Caretakers
by Skandar-Loves-Redvines
Summary: Ron comes home one night to find an unexpected visitor on his couch. Little does he know, the next few months of his life will be pure hell. RW/HG, MM/OC, RW/SM, plus all canon pairings.
1. Of An Unexpected Visitor

**Disclaimer- I do not own Harry Potter, blah, blah, blah, anything familiar belongs to J.K. Rowling, blah, blah, blah.**

**Summary- Ron comes home one night to find an unexpected visitor on his couch. Little does he know, the next few months of his life will be pure hell. RW/HG, MM/OC, RW/SM, plus all canon pairings.**

_Chapter One: Of Unexpected Visitors_

Ronald Weasley absolutely _loathed_ paperwork. He had thought that when he had become an Auror, he could escape the tiresome process of writing papers. But now that he was an Auror, he was doing more writing than ever.

For several months, he had had a secretary to ease his heavy workload, but the week before, she had quit, complaining of "too much work". So poor Ron was once again stuck with the work he had hated since the tender age of five, when he had been made to write apology letters to Fred and George for having thrown knives at their heads. **(A/N- familiar scene, anybody? Re-read The Half-Blood Prince if you don't have a clue as to what I'm talking about.)**

Now, as he Apparated to his house, his arms felt like lead. He groaned as he dragged himself onto the doorstep of Number 48 Eatonville Road*. Under his wife's insistence, they had moved into a Muggle house shortly after their daughter Rose had been born. Using his newfound Auror status, Ron had put up multiple charms and spells so that he and his family could use magic freely without arousing their Muggle neighbours.

As Ron entered the house, he dropped his cloak and wand to the floor with a "thud". He made his way toward the living room sofa, not even bothering to turn on the lights first. As he settled himself down on the sofa, he felt something warm beside him.

"Hello, Hermione," he said, snuggling contentedly to the person he believed to be his wife. He stretched his arms out, enveloping the person beside him in a warm hug.

"Merlin, 'Mione, I've had such a bloody exhausting day," he said. Suddenly, the person stirred, shrugging away from his touch.

"What's wrong, 'Mione?" he asked worriedly.

"Mr. Weasley, if I were you, I'd get your arms off me _this instant_," reprimanded a sharp, familiar voice.

Ron gulped, inwardly cursing himself for not bringing his wand with him. He was a bloody Auror for Merlin's sake! He ought to have been prepared. But there was no time for that now. Now, he had only his instincts to rely on. He had to go with his gut feeling if he wanted to make it out of there alive. It was now or never.

Quick as lightning, Ron bolted across the room, towards the door, where his wand was lying, concealed beneath his cloak. He bent down and picked it up, simultaneously muttering a spell, _Lumos_, so that he could at least see the face of his "attacker". He held the wand up to the intruder's face, but when he looked up too see who it was, his jaw fell open in surprise.

"What the bloody hell?" he said.

***

**Ta-daa! First chapter done! Right now I'm on vacation in India, so I may not be able to update as frequently.**

***= 48 Eatonville Road is actually a place in London. It's my cousins' house, so please don't try visiting!**

**BTW, anybody who can guess who the mystery visitor is gets (virtual) cookies! Although it's pretty easy to guess judging by the main character. Please review! Reviewing makes me happy! 1 Review = 1 (or more) Update. And with that, I say, sayonara! :)**


	2. Of Homework Forgotten

**Disclaimer – If I owned Harry Potter, I wouldn't be here right now. I'd be on a cruise somewhere, flaunting the fact that I am a millionaire. But I'm not, am I, so I obviously don't own HP. ): Anyway… Enjoyyy!**

_**Previously On Caretakers:**_

_He held the wand in the intruder's face, but when he looked up to see who it was, his jaw fell open in surprise._

_"What the bloody hell?" he said._

Chapter Two: Of Homework Forgotten

"Professor McGonagall?" Ron asked in disbelief.

"Language, Mr. Weasley! I do hope I didn't startle you," said Minerva McGonagall, smiling pleasantly.

_"No,"_ Ron thought, _"you didn't startle me… just frightened the bloody bollocks out of me!"_ But aloud, he said, "No, no. Not at all. But, er, Professor? What exactly _are_ you doing in my house?"

"Why, I thought that should have been quite obvious, Mr. Weasley. Apparently, not obvious enough, though. But before I explain, perhaps you should bring Ms. Granger down; Rose and Hugo as well," she replied calmly.

Ron, completely puzzled, walked dumbly up the stairs to wake the rest of his family. He started with his wife, shaking her gently until she woke with a soft, "Wuzz goin' on? Where's the fire?"

"Relax, 'Mione, there's no fire," said Ron soothingly, "There's…someone here to see us."

"If it's Ginny asking to borrow my blue top again, tell her to sod off!" Hermione said fiercely.

"Er, no. It's not Ginny. Just go downstairs while I wake the kids, okay?' Ron said.

Hermione rubbed her eyes wearily, but got up nonetheless. She wrapped her robe around her pyjamas, and walked towards the stairs. But before she went down, she turned around.

"Ronald Weasley, you'd better tell me what's going on," she said warningly, brandishing a hairbrush at him.

"I will, 'Mione, I will," he assured her, wondering where in Merlin's name the hairbrush had come from.

Next, he went to Rose's room. He knocked softly on her door, waiting for a response. After hearing a "mmph" from his daughter, he walked in. He grinned brightly as he saw the dozens of Chudley Cannons' posters on the walls. His obsession had passed onto his children, much to his wife's displeasure.

"What is it, Daddy?" Rose groaned.

"Professor McGonagall's here to see us, Rosie Posie," he said.

"Crap! I forgot to write that essay on Animagi, didn't I?" Rose scrambled off her bed, grabbing a quill and a piece of parchment, and began scribbling furiously.

"Language, Rose," he reprimanded. "But, no. It's the summer holidays, remember?"

"Then why is McGonagall here to see us?" she asked curiously.

"BLOODY HELL!" came the voice of his wife. Ron chuckled.

"Guess, I can't really tell you to mind your language after that, can I?" he asked. "Anyway, help me wake Hugo, and then we'll go see what's going on, okay?" After receiving a nod from Rose, he walked over to his son's room, Rose at his heels.

"Hugo," Ron called, knocking on the door of the room.

"Hu-u-u-go," Rose chimed in. There was still no response. The two walked into the room, walking cautiously around the many toys and books that littered Hugo Weasley's floor.

"HUGO!!!" they said in unison. Poor Hugo fell out of his bed, snatching wildly at his bedposts. Ron and Rose laughed and high-fived. Ron walked over to the other side of the bed to help Hugo up.

"What?" Hugo said crossly, brushing invisible dust off his pyjamas.

"Professor McGonagall's here to see us," the other two said simultaneously.

"Crap! I forgot to write that Transfiguration essay again, didn't I?" he bolted across the room to grab a quill and parchment. Rose and her father doubled over laughing. Hugo stopped in his tracks.

"What's the matter with you two tonight?" he asked, his hands on his hips in a classic Molly Weasley style. This only made them laugh harder. Once they had calmed down enough to speak, Ron said, "There's no essay, Hugo. Just go downstairs, okay?"

"Okay, dad," he said gruffly, still quite puzzled over the behaviour of his father and sister. He walked out the door backwards, staring at Rose and Ron who were still choking back laughs. But they only laughed harder as he toppled over, having tripped on his toy broomstick. Several minutes later, when the father-daughter duo had stopped laughing, and Hugo had finished checking for bruises (he claimed he could have gotten a concussion), the three walked down the stairs to see how Hermione was doing with Professor McGonagall.

Ron, expecting to see his wife sitting and chatting amiably with the Professor about something or the other, was shocked when he entered the room to see Hermione standing with her wand pointed at McGonagall's throat. Hugo, on the other hand, began applauding, and shouting, "Yeah, Mum! Show her what you're made of!" Rose merely shrugged, and attempted to keep her brother from shouting obnoxious phrases such as, "That'll show her from giving the Weasley family any more essays!" and "Sock her in the face, Mum!"

"Hermione!" Ron said, angrily. "What in the name of Merlin are you doing?

"Standard Auror proceedings. I have to check whether she's an imposter using Polyjuice Potion." Hermione said, never taking her eyes off Professor McGonagall.

"'Mione, last time I checked, _I_ was the Auror, not you," he reminded her, rolling his eyes. "We defeated Voldemort twenty-three years ago; I think you're being just a _little_ paranoid."

"You can never be too safe," she said, her eyes still boring holes into her former Transfiguration teacher's face.

"Ms. Granger, I don't mean to be rude, but I must insist that _you remove your wand from my face this very second,_ or I will be forced to pull my own wand out!" Professor McGonagall said, calmly as ever. Ron rushed to his wife's side, and snatched her wand from her hands. He grabbed her shoulders, and led her towards the sofa.

"Why don't we all have a seat, and talk about this?" he suggested, keeping a firm grip on a stony-faced Hermione. Rose and Hugo walked over, and sat on floor by their parent's feet, while McGonagall sat on the armchair beside them.

"Well, you see," she began…

A/N - There, another chapter finished. Another cliffy-ish type thing, though! What do you guys think McGonagall's going to tell them? Please review and tell me!

Questions For This Chapter:

1) What do you think McGonagall will tell them?

2) Do you think Hermione was overreacting?

R & R!

P.S. My other story, _Trading Places_ won't be updated for a bit, because I want to re-write the second chapter.

_Peace!_

_._


	3. Of Troubles In Paradise

**Disclaimer – I do not own Harry Potter. At the moment, all I own is a fractured leg.**

**A/N – This chapter is dedicated to **MinervaM**,** tabby-fanny**, and** jessicats**, for sending such kind reviews about my leg. Thanks, you guys! BTW, this chapter is going to take the place of the A/N I put as Chapter 3, so if any of you were confused as to why Chapter Three was up again, that's why. Enjoyyy!**

_**Previously on**__**Caretakers**_:

"_Why don't we all have a seat, and talk about this?" he suggested, keeping a firm grip on a stony-faced Hermione. Rose and Hugo walked over, and sat on floor by their parents' feet, while McGonagall sat on the armchair beside them._

_ "Well, you see," she began…_

Chapter Three: Of Troubles In Paradise

She paused for a moment. This caused a reaction from Ron, Rose, and Hugo ("_Go on!_), while Hermione sat grumpily with her arms crossed; she was still cross with Ron for interrupting her "interrogation".

"Well," she started again, swallowing thickly as if it pained her to speak.

"Yes?" said Hugo impatiently, gesturing wildly with his hands.

"Hugo!" admonished Rose. "Let her go at her own pace!"

"Okay, _Mum_," grumbled Hugo, crossing his arms like Hermione. He ignored the fact that Rose was currently glaring daggers at him, and stared impatiently at McGonagall once more.

"Well, my husband and I are filing for divorce with the Wizengamot-" said McGonagall nervously.

At this, all four jaws dropped, including Hermione's, who had been persistently looking away every time her former Transfiguration professor spoke.

"You," said Hugo.

"Have," said Rose.

"A," said Hermione.

"_Husband???_" said Ron. The whole family was staring at Professor McGonagall in a mixture of shock and disbelief.

"But we always thought," began Hermione weakly. "You…Dumbledore… together…married?…_oh!_"

"Er, what she means to say," said Ron hurriedly, as McGonagall was giving Hermione the look she normally reserved for those who didn't do their homework, "is that… well, we always thought you and Dumbledore had a thing going on. You know… being romantically involved?"

"Oh, no," she assured them, "Albus and I simply had a very, er, close friendship."

"Oka-a-y," said Ron awkwardly. "So, you and your h-h-_husband_ are divorcing. How does that concern us?"

"Well, until our court case is over, we were hoping you could take care of our kids for us," said Professor McGonagall cautiously.

"_Kids???_" spluttered the entire family.

"Yes, four of them. Joanne, she's fifteen, just a few months older than you Miss Weasley, Adonis, he's eleven, one year younger than you Mr. Weasley, Aurora, she's eight, and Sophia, she's four."

"No offense, Professor, but why us?" asked Hermione, speaking for only the second time since the "episode".

"Well, you two have kids yourselves, and I thought Mr. Weasley here would have quite a bit of experience, growing up with six siblings. Besides, two of my kids are the same ages as your children." said McGonagall.

"But why not ask Harry and Ginny?" asked Ron. "Ginny, obviously, also grew up with six siblings, and Albus and Lily are the same age as Rosie and Hugo."

"Oh, I did," Minerva said pleasantly, "But Mr. Potter said he was going to be away in Switzerland for three weeks with the Aurors, and that Ms. Weasley was going to be coming with him, leaving the kids with you lot." At this, Ron and Hermione exchanged knowing glances; Harry and Ginny weren't going anywhere, and James, Al, and Lily were most certainly not staying with them, aside from the annual Weasley-Potter picnic.

"Er, Professor, why don't we talk in the kitchen?" suggested Ron. When Hermione made to get up as well, he firmly pushed her back down. "I think you should stay with the kids, 'Mione. Y'know talk to them about this for a bit?" Hermione glared daggers at him, but stayed with Rose and Hugo.

Ron led Professor McGonagall into their small kitchen outside the living room. Hermione, on the other hand, asked her kids, "So, what do you think of this?"

"It would be really nice having someone my age to stay," said Rose thoughtfully.

"What about Al and Scorpius?" asked Hermione.

"A _girl_ my age," said Rose pointedly. "Al and Scorp are a lot of fun to be around, but it would be nice to have a girl to talk to."

"You're right. When I was your age, I was the only girl amongst your dad and Uncle Harry. Sometimes I wanted a girl to talk to, as well. What about you, Hugo?" Hermione said, addressing her son.

"It might be okay having Dronis, or whatever his bloody name is (_"Language_, Hugo!" said Hermione), to stay. I wonder if he likes Quidditch? We can show him the Chudley Cannons! Can he stay, Mum, can he? Please?" said Hugo excitedly.

"I guess the vote is two – zero, then," said Hermione, amused at the reaction of her children.

Suddenly the three heard a creak. They automatically turned towards the door. Ron was tiptoeing towards the front door, obviously hoping nobody would hear him. Professor McGonagall was already halfway out the door. Hermione marched over to the door, her hands on her hips, and a frown on her face. McGonagall walked out the door, hoping to avoid any bickering between the two. She was well used to the infamous Weasley-Granger fights.

"I'll see you on Monday," she called, shutting the door behind her. Hermione turned towards Ron, who was visibly shaking.

"Ronald Bilius Weasley, you complete and utter arse! What did you _do_?!"

***

**A/N – That's another chapter done! For those of you who are wondering how I typed this chapter, just after having posted an A/N about my fractured leg; it's still fractured, but I've healed enough to sit in front of my computer for about an hour or two. I want to thank my wonderful reviewers; like I said earlier, this chapter is dedicated to them. You guys are awesome! Hope you liked this chapter!**

**Questions For The Chapter:**

**1) What do you think Ron did (pretty obvious, isn't it?)**

**2) How do you think the family will handle the McGonagall kids?**

**3) Should they (the McGonagall kids) stay up until Hogwarts, or just for a week or so?**

Oh, and one more thing, all of McGonagall's kids' names are Latin/Greek/Roman-derived (except for Joanne, that's in honour of, guess who? J.K. Rowling)

_Adonis… one of the lovers of Aphrodite (Greek goddess of love and lust)_

_Aurora … Roman goddess of dawn (Eos is her Greek counterpart)_

_Sophia… means wisdom in Latin_

**Yup, I'm an absolute Greek Mythology nut. :)**


	4. Of Spring Cleaning Too Early

**Disclaimer – I own nothing.**

**A/N – Great news! My leg is a lot better; I can actually walk now… and that means regular updates! To **jessicats**, who cared about Mr. Cyclops (he was in the old chapter three, the A/N), he's a lot happier, now that I can update regularly.**

(--) } ) _"Mr. Cyclops happy now. Author feel better!"_

**  
Just to let you know, this chapter is rated T for some adult implications. No actual lemons, but a bunch of innuendo. And now that all that's over with, let's begin the chapter! Enjoyyy!**

_**Previously on **__**Caretakers**__**:**_

"_I'll see you on Monday," she called, shutting the door behind her. Hermione turned towards Ron, who was visibly shaking._

"_Ronald Bilius Weasley, you complete and utter arse! What did you do?!"_

***

Chapter Four: Of Spring Cleaning Too Early

"Well… I might have…" said Ron cautiously.

"You might have?" prompted Hermione angrily.

"I told McGonagall she could leave her kids with us!" he blurted out, cracking under Hermione's withering glare. He now understood the quote by William Congreve*, "_Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned_". Hermione was damn scary was she was angry. Ron never did forget the birds she had set on him in their sixth year. He still had the scars to prove it.

"Oh, Ron! Why wouldn't you come talk to us about it, first?" asked Hermione reproachfully. Ron removed his fingers from his ears; he'd been expecting several hours of yelling on his wife's part.

"Well, when we were in the kitchen we heard Rosie and Hugo talking about it, so like you said, that was two votes right there. And I was up for it, too. Who knows? Maybe having more kids in the house will inspire us to have another kid," finished Ron, waggling his eyebrows suggestively.

"Gross, Dad!" said Rose, wrinkling her nose.

"Yeah," said Hugo, "Can't you wait until we leave the room until you start talking about stuff like that?"

"You know what I'm talking about?" asked Ron, astonished.

"Yeah, Mum gave us the owls and the flobberworms talk after Lucy was born," said Rose dully.

"And then me and Rose **(A/N – Yes, I know that's incorrect grammar; it's meant to be like that, for all the grammar/spelling freaks out there. I know… I'm one, too.)** figured out what all those noises were," chirped Hugo, his eagerness contrasting deeply with his sister's bored look.

"Noises?" asked Ron.

"Y'know, the ones that come from your bedroom every night?" explained Rose. "With Mum screaming every now and then, and both of you shouting "Faster, faster!" It's rather nasty, actually." Both Ron and Hermione blushed a deep crimson at that. They hadn't meant for their nightly doings to reflect upon their children.

"By the way, what's a contraceptive potion, Dad?" asked Hugo innocently, although he had a smile tugging at his lips. Ron paled.

"Er… a contraceptive potion is… "

"Don't put your father on the spot like that," chided Hermione. "You'll understand when you're older." Rose and Hugo exchanged a knowing smile at this, as if to say "W_e already know, Mum!"_

"O-ka-ay, then," said Ron awkwardly. "Why don't we all go up to bed, then? We've got a long day on Monday!"

"We've got to clean tomorrow," said Hermione briskly. "We've also got to set up the bunk beds again. The ones we use when James, Al, and Lily come over." At this, Rose and Hugo groaned.

"It's to early to spring-clean, Mum! And I was going to finish my book," moaned Rose.

"I was going to play Quidditch with Lorcan and Lysander tomorrow! Saturday is the only day they get afternoons off; all the other days they help Uncle Rolf and Aunt Luna with the animals," groaned Hugo.

"Well, you can do the sweeping, Hugo. I suppose your _Volatus_**_ 5000_ is just as good at cleaning the kitchen and the hallways?" said Hermione indifferently.

"Mu-u-m! You can't use my Volatus to sweep the floors!" said Hugo indignantly, shaking his head at his mother's inexperience with Quidditch.

"Don't worry, I won't," she said consolingly. Hugo visibly brightened at this. "But you still have to do the sweeping and the wiping," she finished. Hugo frowned once more. "And Rosie, you have help your dad set up the bunks, okay?"

"Yes, Mum," sighed Rose, thinking of her unfinished book.

"Yes, Mum," repeated Hugo, thinking longingly of his broom.

"Now go off to bed, you two; we've got a long day tomorrow. Look at your father! He's snoring already!" said Hermione, sounding amused.

"I don't snore!" said Ron defensively, magically waking up from his "sleep".

"Eavesdroppers never hear good about themselves, Dad!" said Rose and Hugo simultaneously; Rose with her hands on her hips, Hugo wagging his finger at Ron.

"Oh, come on up to sleep, you lot!" called Hermione, who had already gone up the stairs. They listened to her, and went up immediately; tomorrow was going to be a _very_ long day…

***

Saturday came too early for the Weasley family. Hermione woke Ron, Rose, and Hugo up at four a.m., saying that if they started cleaning now, they'd have time for "fun" later in the afternoon.

"It's the bloody crack of dawn, 'Mione. Give a guy some rest!" groaned Ron, ducking beneath the covers. Hugo's reaction was more or less the same. Rose was the only one who got physical. As Hermione gently shook her awake, Rose grabbed her pillow, and hit her mother right on her face. Down went Hermione, cursing obscenely. All Rose could hear was, "Bloody hell! Bloody effing pillow filled with bloody effing books. Who puts effing _books_ in a bloody effing pillow?! Going to bloody have a bloody bruise for the next bloody effing week!"

"Language, Mum!" she called down to where Hermione was currently glaring at her, a large purple bruise already forming on her forehead.

"Just go help your father with the bunk beds," she grumbled.

"Yes, Mummy," chirped Rose, happily.

Meanwhile, down in the kitchen, Hugo wasn't having much luck with the sweeping. Ron thought it rather silly that Muggles cleaned with brooms, and refused to buy one, when he or Hermione could just use magic. So poor Hugo, who wasn't allowed to use magic, had to clean the kitchen and the hallways using his father's old Cleansweep.

Every time he tried to sweep, the broom would fly out of his hands and hover in front if him, as if begging him to ride it, to come out and play Quidditch. This only egged Hugo on more; determined to prove that he didn't care, he kept trying, and kept trying to sweep with the Cleansweep. Finally, Hugo just settled for using his hands to pick everything up. After just twenty minutes of cleaning, Hugo was exhausted. He lay, sprawled on the kitchen floor, wringing out his weary, cramping hands.

***

Upstairs, Rose and Ron were having just as much luck with the bunk beds as Hugo was having with the broom. They had to set up two, for the four McGonagall children, and they were trying their very hardest, but seeing as neither knew how to set up a Muggle bed, it wasn't going too well. Usually Hermione and Harry set the beds up, because both had been raised by Muggles, and knew how to set one up. This time, Hermione had confiscated Ron's wand, and told him he should do it "the Muggle way". But, now, the beds seemed to have a mind of their own, or so Ron thought. Every time they managed to put one end up, the other end would fall down. And if each of them held an end, they wouldn't be able to do anything.

"Rosie, lift that side up, will you?"

"Daddy, you've got to move the mattress. See, that end there's covering the rod."

"No, Rosie, no, don't pull tha-"

"Whoops."

"And that's why you shouldn't grab the moving end of a krill, sweetie."

"It's called a _drill_, Dad. Krill are the fish that whales eat."

"Who cares?"

"The whales."

"Whatever."

"Whale-hater."

"Sorry, whales."

"That's better."

"Rosie, can you push that rod over to the – no, the mattress goes there, the rod has to go – no! Rosie! Oh, give me that bloody rod before you throw another one out the window!"

"Yes, Daddy."

***

Back in Rose's room, it seemed Hermione was the only one having a nice time. She was lying down on her daughter's bed, with her legs crossed, her arms behind her bed, and the Muggle radio beside her playing soft, calming music. She was nearly asleep when she heard three choruses of "Bloody hell!" She jumped up, and ran to the stairs to see what happened. It sounded like two shouts had come from upstairs, and one from downstairs. She decided to check upstairs first. She went to the guest bedroom, where Ron and Rose were supposed to be assembling the bunk beds. She stuck her head in the room, expecting to see the father-daughter duo working happily away. But instead, she was met with a large pile of metal and cotton.

"Ron?! Rosie?! Are you two okay? Where are you?" she called frantically.

"We're down here," yelled the muffled voice of Rose.

"Beneath this _thing_ you call a bed," said the disgusted voice of Ron. Hermione dug her way through the rubble, to find something red peeking out at her. She grabbed hold of it and pulled, hoping it was either her husband or her daughter. She was right.

"Bloody hell, 'Mione!" yelped Ron, massaging his sore head.

"Is Rosie down there with you?" she asked worriedly.

"Yep, right…here," he said, pulling a disgruntled Rose out from beneath him.

"Daddy, promise me that you will _never again pass gas when I am under you_," she said angrily, waving her hand in front of her nose. "Really… lay of the beans!"

"I'm going down to check on Hugo, okay, you two? Try not to kill yourselves," said Hermione, walking out of the room. As she walked downstairs, she heard another shout of, Bloody effing hell!" She ran to the kitchen, wondering what on earth could go wrong with _sweeping_, for Merlin's sake! But what she saw when she entered the kitchen was Ron's old Cleansweep carrying Hugo all over the kitchen, trying its hardest to throw him off. It was like riding an angry horse.

"_Conquiesco_***," she shouted. The broom ceased instantly. Allowing Hugo to slide of safely, landing in his mother's waiting arms.

"Hugo! What were you thinking?" she asked, hugging him tightly.

"It wasn't me," he managed to choke out between hugs. "Bloody broom picked me up, and flew me around the bloody room."

"Well, as long as you're safe," Hermione said doubtfully, putting him down on the ground.

"I'm beginning to think we should all just go back to bed, and then fix it up with magic later," she said, wearing an amused smile.

"Great idea, Mum," said Hugo, giving a large, yet obviously fake, yawn. "I'll go tell Rosie and Dad." And he sprinted off, up the stairs.

***

The four slept until nearly six in the evening, waking up only to eat dinner, and clean the house up using magic. They were too exhausted from their misadventures that day to do much more.

That is, until their doorbell rang the next morning.

"Mr. Weasley, Ms. Granger! We're here!"

**A/N – There we go, another chapter over. I'm actually quite proud of myself… four chapters in two weeks, that's quite a bit for me! Plus, this is my longest chapter for **_**this**_** story so far. Four and a half pages on Microsoft Word.**

**This is what all those asterisks mean:**

* = Most people think the quote "_Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned" _was by William Shakespeare, but it was actually by William Congreve, in his play, _The Mourning Bride_. Such a wonderful name, right? What the quote basically means is… Women are damn scary when they're mad. I am one, I would know. Don't get us mad. Especially during that time of the month. We can be real werewolves. (Anybody catch the reference to Remus Lupin?)

** = _Volatus_ means "the flight" in Latin. I thought it would work well for a broomstick, seeing as the words for broom all sounded like "herb".

*** = _Conquiesco _means "to be still, to stop" in Latin. I thought it'd be appropriate for this spell.

**Well, that's all for now, folks! Next chapter, the McGonagall kids make an appearance! I'll see you next time, on… **_Caretakers_**!!!**

_Questions For This Chapter:_

1) Who had the worst cleaning experience, Rose and Ron, or Hugo? Or even Hermione?

2) What should the McGonagall kids' last name be? (I'm saying McGonagall is Minerva's maiden name)

3) How would you rate this chapter on a scale of one to ten? And just for fun, if you would like, you can make and O.W.L. grade sheet. I made one for another story, and it's kind of fun. You can use character development, plot development, originality, storyline, etc. as subjects.


	5. Of Meeting New Residents

**Disclaimer - *grunts* I'm too lazy to write a new disclaimer. Just recycle one of my old ones…**

***

_**Previously On **__Caretakers__**:**_

"_Mr. Weasley! Ms. Granger! We're here!"_

***

Chapter Five: Of Meeting New Residents

"Ron, can you get the door?" called Hermione, who was still half-asleep, brewing herself a cup of coffee.

"Rosie, can you get the door?" called Ron, who was listening to the Cannons vs. Harpies match on the wireless.

"Hugo, can you get the door?" called Rose, who was finishing her book, _Slavery: A History Of House-Elf Discrimination_, by Charlotte E. Spellman.

"Mum, can you get the door?" called Hugo, who was reading _The Misadventures Of Helena Higgs, The Mad Muggle_ for the fifteenth time.

"Fine!" Hermione shouted, slamming her coffee cup down, "I'll get the bloody door! But you lot had better come here, now, to greet them!"

"But, Mu-um," whined Rose and Hugo.

"Hermi-o-ne-e," groaned Ron.

"1… " she began warningly. Ron bolted out of the living room, towards his livid wife.

"2… Don't make me say three," she called upstairs.

"C'mon, Mum," said Rose. "Don't you think we're a little old for the "one, two, three, four" thing?"

"Yeah, it's never going to work," said Hugo. "I outgrew that ages ago."

"You mean last month?" asked Rose, eyebrows raised, even though her brother was in a different room.

"Shut it!"

"3…" yelled Hermione. Rose and Hugo both laughed, and continued what they were doing.

"4…" she called. There was no response. "You leave me no choice, you two."

"_Accio Rose and Hugo_!" she muttered, whipping her wand out from nowhere. Down came her two children, bumping themselves rather painfully on the stairs. They shakily got up, as their mother lowered her wand.

"Merlin, woman! Was really that necessary?" cried Hugo, brushing himself down.

" Really, Mum, you might as well have just gone upstairs, and dragged down us by our ears," said Rose, checking for bruises.

"No, it's much more painful being dragged by your ears, than what she just did," said Ron.

"It's happened" asked Hugo incredulously.

"Er…yes," admitted Ron, nervously. "It was when your Mum was pregnant with Rosie. She asked me if her dress made her look fat, and I replied yes."

"Dad!" said Rose reproachfully. "You _never_ tell a woman she looks fat, even if she's as bloated as a scared Blumbleflinger!"

"A what?" asked Ron, Hugo, and Hermione, completely baffled.

"Aunt Luna told me about it. Apparently it's an endangered species," explained Rose. "You see it inflates when it's sca-,"

"Mr. Weasley? Ms. Granger? Are you there?" called the voice of Minerva McGonagall.

"Blimey, I'd forgotten they were out there," said Hugo. The other three nodded, as they too seemed to have forgotten that McGonagall and her kids were waiting patiently outside. Hermione reached forward, and opened the door, revealing her former professor, along with three children; three girls, one boy.

The tallest, and most likely eldest, girl had dark brown hair with several streaks of auburn, the exact opposite of Rose, who had red hair with streaks of dark brown. Her eyes were a pale green, but they sparkled with joy and energy. If she hadn't been frowning deeply, she would have been extraordinarily pretty. She carried a suitcase in her right hand, and an owl cage, containing an extremely small owl, in her left.

The boy beside her was nearly as tall as his sister, with black hair and deep brown eyes. He, like his sister, had his mouth set in a grimace, as though he didn't want to be there. He looked a bit like James Potter I, her cousin James' namesake. He too was carrying a suitcase and an owl cage in either hand.

The smaller girl to his right had wavy golden-blonde hair, with big, round blue eyes. She was wearing a timid smile on her face, unlike the rest who all had thin-lipped, stony looks. She, like her older siblings, was carrying a suitcase, and a bird cage, but her cage held a large, brightly coloured bird, rather than an owl. Hugo wondered what kind of bird it could be.

The smallest, and probably youngest, girl, to the left of the sullen boy, had brown hair. Her eyes were hazel. Ron then realized in surprise that each child had differently coloured eyes and hair. Her suitcase was held by McGonagall, but she carried a travelling cage like the rest. Inside was some sort of small animal. A dog, maybe, Hermione thought, possibly a cat.

"Come in, come in," she said graciously, stepping back so that they could enter the house. McGonagall walked in first, practically dragging her children in, all except the smallest, who ran in, looking as though she was going to get knocked down by her siblings.

"Here, give me your suitcases," said Hermione. "I'll put them upstairs for you. Ron, can you bring them to the living room, and get them settled. I've put some sandwiches on a platter, so if you lot are hungry you can have some." The four children nodded obediently, and went on their own to sit in the living room, leaving a bemused Ron in the hallway, thinking how alike they were to their mother.

"Oh dear, look at the time!" said a distressed Professor McGonagall. "I have to be at the Ministry in five minutes! I hope you don't mind if I leave now; I have to Apparate about five blocks from the Ministry. They don't allow direct Apparation unless you work there."

"It's fine," Hermione reassured her.

"Yeah, we can get to know the kids on their own now, rather than on their best behaviour," said Ron eagerly.

"Okay," said McGonagall doubtfully, heading towards the door.

"It's okay, Professor. You should go, or you'll be late," said Hermione. McGonagall seemed to take her words to heart, and practically sprinted out the door, slamming it behind her.

"_Wingardium leviosa_," muttered Hermione, causing the children's' suitcases to float gently up to the guest room. "C'mon, Ron, lets go sit with them," she said, tugging on his arm, abruptly ending his daydream about buying the Cannons. How he had gotten from McGonagall's kids to buying a Quidditch team, he had no idea, but he knew it had been a great dream. Hermione pulled him into the living room, dropping him into an armchair by the door.

"Er, hello?" said Ron awkwardly, even though it was more a question than a statement.

"Would you mind introducing yourselves once again?" asked Hermione softly. "We know you names, but we don't know who's who!"

"I'm Joanne," said the tall girl with the dark hair, "I'm thirteen years old, and I'm the eldest."

"I'm Adonis," said the boy who resembles James Potter, "I'm ten, and I'm the second eldest."

"I'm Aurora," said the girl with the shimmering blonde hair, "I'm seven, and I'm the second youngest, and the third eldest."

"I'm Sophia," said the smallest girl excitedly, "I'm four years old, and I'm the littlest in my family. But I'm turning five soon! My birthday is in" she stopped to count the days on her fingers, "seventeen days!" she said proudly.

"What pretty names you all have!" exclaimed Hermione.

"All of our names are Latin, Greek, and Roman-derived," said the boy, Adonis.

"Except Joanne's," interjected the young girl, Aurora.

"Except mine," said Joanne. "I was named for Dad's dead aunt."

"I was named after a Greek hero. He was one of the lovers of Aphrodite, the goddess of love and lust," explained Adonis. At this, Rose and Hugo exchanges glances, remembering their conversation two nights previous.

"I was named after Aurora, the Roman goddess of dawn. Eos is her Greek version," added Aurora. Her name seemed to fit her hair, Rose thought.

"My name means wisdom in Latin," said Sophia, in her small, high-pitched wife.

"I think I know you," said Rose thoughtfully. "Wait, yes, yes. You're Joanne Harris; you're a Gryffindor in my year, right?"

"Yes, I am," replied Joanne, bending over, and grabbing a sandwich off the table.

"Do you know our cousin, Al?" asked Rose. "Albus Potter?"

"Tall, skinny, messy black hair, emerald green eyes?" asked Hugo.

"Yes, I do," Joanne said again. She didn't seem to want to speak in more than three word sentences.

"Okay, then," mumbled Hugo, turned off by the girl's unfriendliness.

"I go to Durmstrang," said Adonis. "That's where Dad went when he was younger. Plus, Mum says it will provide "inter-school unity"."

"Now that's a smart family," said Hermione approvingly. She had always wanted inter-school unity, ever since the Triwizard Tournament in her fourth year.

"I go to Beauxbatons," added Aurora.

"Let me guess? Inter-school unity?" asked Ron. Aurora nodded.

"May I ask you a question?" asked Hermione.

"Well, you've obviously just done so –" said Ron bluntly, stopping abruptly when Hermione shot him a vicious glare.

"Yes, you may," replied Adonis, laughing silently.

"How come you lot are so young?" Hermione asked curiously.

"Er, pardon?" asked Joanne, puzzled.

"What I mean is, why are you four so much younger than your Mum? Al Potter's grandmother, Lily, was taught by your mum, and that was fifty-six years ago," said Hermione, doing some quick mental math. "Sophia's the youngest, and she's four. ("_Turning five_!" said Sophia indignantly.) Your mum can't have had you when she was 87, could she?"

"Damn, that's a lot of arithmetic," said Ron, his face scrunched up as he tried to figure out all the ages. **(A/N – Seriously, it took me about ten minutes, just to write Hermione's previous dialogue. Stupid math. In case you hadn't noticed, I **_**loathe**_** math.)**

"Dad! Shhh!" exclaimed Rose.

"Well, you see, Mum isn't our actual Mum," said Aurora.

"Say what?" asked Ron, who was still trying to figure out all the math.

"We're only Daddy's kids," said Sophia.

"This was his second marriage. Mum is our stepmum. Our real mum died five years ago," said Adonis sadly.

"Oh," said Hermione simply. She wasn't sure if it was too early in their "relationship" to go and comfort him, so she just stayed in her seat, looking sympathetic.

"That's why our last name is Harris. That's Dad's last name. Mum kept her maiden name when she and Dad got married," said Aurora.

"Dad's just as old as Mum, though," said Joanne. "He's older, actually. He turned ninety-three last month. Our real mum was loads younger than him when they married."

There was a large awkward silence. Hermione broke it by suddenly saying, "Why don't we go on up to bed, then?"

"Er, Mum?" asked Hugo.

"Hmm?" replied Hermione absently, clearing away the uneaten sandwiches.

"You do know it's only nine-thirty, right?"

"Oh… Whoops…"

"Yeah…"

"So, what are we going to do until lunchtime?" asked Ron. "It looks like nobody was really that hungry, so eating early is out of the question," he said, gesturing to the uneaten sandwiches.

"I'm hungry!" cried Hugo.

"Hugo, you don't count," said Rose wearily, as if she was used to this, which she was. "You're always hungry. You're like a bottomless pit."

"Oh, shove it!" said Hugo rudely. The Harris-McGonagall kids all grinned at this. This wasn't what they had expected the Weasley family to be like, always happy and jokey. It was a big change from their strict home life.

"Ooh! I know what we can do!" cried Rose.

"What?" asked Ron, Hermione, Hugo, Joanne, Adonis, and Aurora all together. Only Sophia didn't ask, as she was too busy exploring the living room.

"We can go…"

***

**Another chapter done! Four and a half pages on Microsoft Word, just like the previous chapter. Just like for the disclaimer, I'm too tired to properly write anything. I'll just go straight to the Chapter Questions…**

_Questions For This Chapter:_

1) How did you like the Harris-McGonagall kids?

2) Where do you think Rosie will take them?

3) How would you rate _this_ chapter on a scale of 1-10? (Yeah, I know I already used this last chapter, I just wanted to know...)

**Thanks for reading! Don't forget to review on your way out!**


	6. Of Seeing The Family

**Disclaimer – Nope, still nothing…**

**A/N – I have incredible news! Well, for me atleast… My leg is completely healed! Not that it makes much of a difference seeing as I've been updating regularly anyway; but I can actually walk now. *squeals* I'm so happy for myself.**

**I'm also incredibly sorry that this chapter's so late. I know it's only been a couple of days, but I feel really guilty. You can make up for that by reviewing!**

**I'm going to stop rambling now, and go on with the actual chapter. Enjoyyy!**

***

_**Previously On **__Caretakers__**:**_

"_Ooh! I know what we can do!" cried Rose._

"_What?" asked Ron, Hermione, Hugo, Joanne, Adonis, and Aurora all together. Only Sophia didn't ask, as she was too busy exploring the living room._

"_We can go…"_

Chapter Six: Of Seeing The Family

"We can go…?" prompted Ron.

"We can go to… The Burrow!" cried Rose dramatically.

"Er, how are we all going to fit inside a burrow?" asked Joanne curiously.

"Isn't a burrow underground?" asked Sophia, wrinkling her nose.

"No, no. Not _a_ burrow, _The_ Burrow," corrected Rose.

"It's our where our Grandmum and Granddad Weasley live," said Hugo.

"Shouldn't we go to The Burrow when everybody's there?" asked Hermione. "It won't be nearly as much fun if they don't get to meet all the cousins, aunts, and uncles."

"We can invite them using a fellytone!" said Ron eagerly.

"_Telephone_!" cried Hermione, Rose, and Hugo.

"Eh, whatever," said Ron dismissively. "Anyway, why don't we invite everyone? That way, Joanne, Adonis, Aurora, and Sophia can meet the family, and we can play a big game of Weasley Quidditch!"

"Great idea, Dad!" said Hugo.

"I'll go owl Al," said Rose, walking out of the room.

"I presume we're going to The Burrow, then?" asked Hermione.

"To The Burrow!" said Hugo loudly.

"I'll go owl Audrey, Angelina, and Fleur. Maybe Luna and Rolf, too. Can you inform your Mum that we're holding a family gathering at her house?" asked Hermione.

"I can use the fellytone!" cried Ron. Hermione shook her head. _"That man will never learn,"_ she thought.

Exactly half an hour later, the Weasley family, plus the four Harris children, were all ready to go to the Burrow. It had only taken fifteen minutes to send all the owls, but under Hermione's insistence, all six children had to go and "freshen up"; meaning "go and brush your teeth, wash your faces, and put on deodorant, you smell like horses!" This had added an unnecessary fifteen minutes to their departure, but finally, they were all set and ready.

"Are we going by car or Floo?" asked Rose.

"Er, it's best we go by car," said Hermione. "I'm sure Joanne, Adonis, Aurora, and Sophia all know how to Floo," -the four nodded- "but we don't want them to end up in the wrong place, seeing as they've never been to The Burrow."

"Harry did that once, in our second year," reminisced Ron thoughtfully. "He ended up in Knockturn Alley."

"_Knockturn Alley_?" asked all six children. Rose and Hugo had been told never to go into Knockturn Alley, and the other four most likely had been as well. Hermione shot him a look, which plainly said, _"If I catch any of these children near Knockturn Alley, the couch is becoming your permanent bed!"_

"Er, yes. Now forget I said that..."

"Come on," said Hermione amusedly. "Let's go. It's going to take us ages to go by car if we don't leave now. We're going to get loads of traffic anyway, we don't need anymore."

The group moved shuffled out the door, walking towards the small blue car the family owned. But once they got there, they realized they had a problem.

"Mum? How are we all going to fit in?"

The Weasley family car had only five seats… there were eight of them. Ron suggested using an Expanding Charm, but Hermione explained that because of all the magic boundaries they had set up, the charm would wear off once they left the driveway.

"Can we all squish in?" asked Hugo. They considered the idea, and figured it wouldn't hurt to try. But by the time Hugo, Rose, Joanne, and Adonis had fit in (all sitting on each other's laps), there was no room for Aurora and Sophia.

"Er, Hugo, why don't you move there, _yes on Rose's lap_…then Joanne, if you scoot over, yes, right there…and Adonis, if you sit next to her instead of on her lap, yeah, right there…now Aurora, on Joanne's lap, just like that…and Sophia, on Adoni- no, no, not on the floor!...up on his lap!"

After much grumbling, yelling, and squashing of the limbs, the Weasley-Harris family were comfortable, well not comfortable, but atleast they were all sitting in the car.

"Everybody ready?" called Ron from the overly roomy driver's seat. There was a general grunt from the backseat, as well as a "bloody hell!", courtesy of Hugo.

"I'll take that as a yes!"

***

An hour later, the group of eight arrived at The Burrow. The minute Ron opened the door of the backseat, all six children fell out with an "oomph!". The second they walked into the backyard, they were met with a large amount of noise. The four Harris children were surrounded by shades of red, black, brown, and blonde. Aurora could have sworn she saw a turquoise-haired teenager run past her.

"AL!" cried Rose, running up to a tall, black-haired boy, who looked to be about her age. She smothered him in a big hug, talking to him eagerly. She spoke so fast, nobody besides Al had any idea what she was saying. Suddenly, Rose caught sight of a platinum blonde. The only person she knew with that colour hair was…

"SCORPIUS!"

She ran over to him, and gave him just as big a hug as she had with Albus. Scorpius looked almost sad to let her go. Hugo took note of that, meaning to blackmail his sister with it later.

"How come you're here, Scorp?" she asked excitedly.

"I'm staying with Al over the holidays, didn't I tell you?" he replied, racking his brains to remember if he had told Rose before the holidays.

"No, you didn't!" she said, whipping around so that she faced him. "Was it so unimportant, that you couldn't be bothered to tell your _best friend_?"

"I…forgot?" he squeaked. Rose was a sight to see when she was angry. Both her parents had awful tempers, and apparently it was hereditary. The Weasley-Granger women all had the infamous temper. Rose's Grandmum Molly could yell louder and longer than a banshee; her Uncle George usually on the receiving end. Aunt Ginny was an expert at the Bat Bogey Hex; this was normally reserved for her dad, her Uncle Harry, and Morris Dover, a fan who never ceased to stalk her. Her Mum, Hermione, was nearly as good as Molly at yelling, but her most prominent feature was the way she managed to tower over people, even though she was shorter than them. Rose herself was a mix of all her Weasley relatives; her screams could rival her Grandmum Molly, her Aunt Ginny had taught her the Bat Bogey Hex to perfection, and she too had the ability to tower over most males. All four could silence their husbands (and in Rose's case, best friend) with a single raise of an eyebrow. That was what Rose did now. Scorpius flinched. When Rose raised her eyebrow, it usually meant she was going to star yelling in 5…4…3…2…1…

"It's fine, I don't mind," she said, swatting him playfully. "It must have slipped your mind." He visibly relaxed at this.

"Merlin, woman! I thought you were going to hex me into next month!" he said indignantly.

"Do you _want_ me to hex you into next month?" she asked, raising her eyebrow once more.

"Forget I said that," he said hurriedly. "So… what have you been doing over the summer, and who's that cute brown-haired girl you brought with you? Does she go to Hogwarts?"

"Er, yes. She's in Gryffindor, in our year, just like Al," she said stifling a laugh.

"Is she single?"

"Yes."

"Will she go out with me?"

"You'll have to ask her."

"Is her dad as protective as yours?"

"No clue, but her mum may have a problem."

"Who's her mum?"

"McGonagall."

"Oh, oka- _McGonagall_?!"

"Yup."

"…"

"Yeah."

"…"

"Scorp?"

"…"

"_Scorp_?"

"…"

"_Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy!"_

"Just messing with you there."

-insert "SMACK" here-

"You slapped me!"

"So…?"

***

The Harris family was completely lost amongst the sea of Weasleys. Adonis walked up to Hugo, muttering, "Exactly how many cousins do you have?"

"Well, there's Teddy, Victoire, Dominique, Louis, Molly, Lucy, Fred, Roxanne, Rosie, me, James, Al, Lily, Lysander, and Lorcan," he said, all in one breath. "Teddy, Lorcan, and Lysander aren't our real cousins, but Teddy is getting married to Victoire in August, and Lysander and Lorcan's mum is great friends of our family."

"Who's who?" asked Aurora curiously. Seeing a familiar face through the throngs of Weasleys, she had walked over, taking Sophia with her..

"Okay, see him with the turquoise hair? That's Teddy. He's a Metamorphagus, like his Mum. That girl next to him, with the strawberry-blonde hair? That's Victoire, his fiancé. That over there, yeah, the girl with the short red hair. With the black pants? That's Dominique. And that boy over there, with the blonde hair next to Dominique is Louis. Molly and Lucy are the two over in that corner. The taller one with the brown hair is Lucy, and Molly is the shorter one with the red hair. Fred and Roxanne are the twins. Do you see them? Yeah, they're the ones holding the fire extinguisher. You already know Rosie. James is the one with the messy black hair, no not him, that's Al. Yeah, him, with the brown eyes. Lily's the shorter one with the red hair next to them. Lysander and Lorcan are the two with their heads stuck in the bushes. They're probably looking for nargles or something."

"What about your aunts and uncles?" asked Joanne, who had also joined the group.

"Those two up on the porch are my Grandmum Molly and Granddad Arthur. The man with all the scars is my Uncle Bill, and the lady next to him is Aunt Fleur. They're Victoire, Dom, and Louis' parents. The lady with the brown hair, that's our Aunt Audrey, and the man beside her is Uncle Percy. Molly and Lucy are their kids. The guy with no ear is our Uncle George, and that's Aunt Angelina with the braided hair. They're the twins' mother. The man with the messy hair is our Uncle Harry, and the red haired woman yelling at him is Aunt Ginny. James, Al, and Lily are their children. And, do you see the blonde lady talking to the garden gnomes? That's Aunt Luna, Lysander and Lorcan's mum. Uncle Rolf, her husband, is the man in that corner, swatting the air."

"Who's that blonde boy hugging Rose?" asked Joanne.

"That's Scorpius. He's Rose's boyfriend," snickered Hugo. This was not at all true, but Hugo had always harboured a feeling that his sister and her best friend had a secret relationship.

"Does he go to Hogwarts?" asked Adonis.

"Yeah, he's a Ravenclaw, like Rosie," Hugo replied. "He's in your year, Joanne."

"Do they kiss?" asked Sophia, making a face.

"Yes, they do," said Hugo, solemnly. "All the time. Sometimes they even sit on the sofa and do it for hours on an end."

"Really?" gasped Aurora.

"Yup. We have to use crowbars to break them apart when they really get into it. Even Mum and Dad can't hold them back," he lied.

"So, he's not single, then?" asked Joanne, looking crestfallen.

"Hey, guys! What's going on?" came a cheery voice. The five turned around to see a smiling Rose dragging Scorpius along with her.

"If you two are going to snog, get a room!" said Sophia bossily, and stomped off looking for someone her age.

"Hugo, did you tell them Scorp and I are dating again?" asked Rose, rounding on her brother, who was currently trying to hide behind Joanne. He poked his head out.

"How would you know it was me!" he asked indignantly.

"Hugo, you've been telling people that for the last two and a half years," she pointed out. "We've kind of gotten used to it."

"Really Hugo, that joke is pretty old now," said Scorpius. "We already established that we have no relationship a while ago." He then turned towards Joanne.

"Would you like to go out with me?" he asked smoothly. Everybody stared.

"Er…yes?" she said. "Will it be okay with your Mum and Dad, Rose?"

"Dad will probably throw a party for you. He thinks that if nobody dates Scorp, he and I will elope and move to France," laughed Rose. "What about you, Scorpius? Aren't you dead afraid of McGonagall?" He waved his hand impatiently.

"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it," he replied airily. "So, Hogsmeade?" he asked Joanne.

"Sure," she said. "When?"

"Is four thirty on Saturday okay?" he asked.

"We aren't doing anything on Saturday, are we, Rose?" Joanne asked, looking at Rose.

"Dad's probably going to try and drag us to the Cannons game. But, don't worry, we'll cover for you," she replied. "Go for it." Joanne turned back to Scorpius.

"Saturday at 4:30, it is, then," she answered. Scorpius nodded, then made to walk away, but not before Rose grabbed his hand, and pulled him back.

"Er, Scorp? Aren't you forgetting something?" she asked, gesturing to Joanne.

"What? We already went over time, place, and date, what more is there?"

"You don't even know her name!" laughed Rose.

"Oh yeah, I completely forgot about that," he said. "What _is_ your name?"

"Joanne," she replied, laughing as well.

"Joanne," he said. "That's a pretty name. I'll see you later, Joanne. Bye Hugo! Bye Rosie! Bye, er, whatever your names are next to Rosie!" he called, walking away.

"That's Aurora, and that's Adonis," she said. "And don't call me Rosie!"

"Sorry, _Rosie_," he replied, rolling his eyes.

"I'm going to go talk to Al," she said. "I'll see you guys in a bit." She walked away from the small group, going in the direction of her messy-haired cousin, Al.

"Well, what do we do now?" asked Adonis.

"Dad and Uncle Harry are probably going to start a Quidditch game in a lit-"

"ATTENTION ALL WEASLEYS, POTTERS, SCAMANDERS, MALFOYS, AND HARRIS'!" Ron shouted, most likely having used _Sonorous_. "WE WILL BE HAVING OUR USUAL WEASLEY FAMILY QUIDDITCH GAME IN JUST A FEW MINUTES! BECAUSE WE HAVE SO MANY PEOPLE, WE ARE GOING TO HAVE THREE GAMES; ONE FOR THE KIDS AND ONE FOR THE ADULTS. THE WINNING TEAM OF THE KIDS GAME WILL THEN PLAY THE WINNING ADULT TEAM. THE ULTIMATE WINNERS WILL RECEIVE THE WEASLEY FAMILY QUIDDITCH CUP. WILL ALL WILLING PARTICIPANTS PLEASE MAKE THEIR WAY TO THE QUIDDITCH AREA, SO THAT WE MAY SORT OUT THE TEAMS! THANK YOU!"

"Weasley family Quidditch is the best," said Hugo, dragging Joanne, Adonis, and Aurora towards the Quidditch area. "Are you lot going to play?"

"Er…"

"Well.."

"Possibly…"

"C'mon!" he cried as he pulled the lot of them to the front of the group.

***

**A/N – There we go, one more chapter to add to the list. I'm extremely tires right now, so I'll just skip ahead to the Chapter Questions:**

_Questions For This Chapter:_

1) What do you think the Quidditch teams will be?  
2) Do you think the Harris children will play?

3) If the Harris kids do play, will they be good or bad?

4) Do you think Rose actually has any feelings for Scorpius?

5) How would you rate this chapter? (you know the drill, 1-10)

**Thanks for reading! Don't forget to review! Reviews make my day!**

**~Peace,~**

**.**


	7. Of The Weasley Quidditch Rivalry

**Disclaimer - Nothing…**

**A/N – Nothing much here either. I really have nothing to say in this Author's Note. I guess I should go on with the chapters, then? Enjoyyy!**

***

_Previously On Caretakers:_

"_Weasley family Quidditch is the best," said Hugo, dragging Joanne, Adonis, and Aurora towards the Quidditch area. "Are you lot going to play?"_

"_Er…"_

"_Well.."_

"_Possibly…"_

"_C'mon!" he cried as he pulled the lot of them to the front of the group._

***

Chapter Seven: Of The Weasley Quidditch Rivalry

"Okay, can I have everybody who's playing raise their hands?" called Ron. He had taken off the Sonorous charm. Now that everybody had gathered around him, his voice didn't have to carry as far. And besides, this was _Quidditch_. No member of the Weasley family would _ever_ talk during a Quidditch-related announcement.

The hands of Bill, Dominique, Louis, Audrey, George, Angelina, Fred, Roxanne, Harry, Ginny, James, Albus, Lily, Rose, Hugo, Teddy, Lorcan, and Scorpius shot up. Hugo also managed to push Adonis and Joanne's hands up. Ron stuck his tongue out as he counted all the raised hands.

"Okay, Bill, and, er, Dom, Louis, Audrey, George, Angie, sorry, _Angelina_, Fred, Roxy, Harry, Ginny, James, Al, Lily, Rosie Posie," -"_Dad!"_- "sorry, Rose, Hugo, Teddy, Lorcan, and Scorpius. Okay, that's er… add two carry the five… wait, no, add _five_, then carry two…"

"It's twenty-one, genius!" sniggered someone, most likely George.

"I knew that!" Ron snapped defensively. "I was testing your Arithmancy skills. You've passed." he said stiffly.

"Anyway, it seems we may have a change in plans… rather than having four teams, and three games, we're going to have the first ever three-way Quidditch match!"

_-insert cricket noise here-_

There was complete and utter silence. Everybody was staring at Ron, mouths agape. Finally someone spoke.

"You mean with three teams?" asked Harry slowly.

"Yeah! That way we still have seven on each team, and we don't need to waste time playing two extra games to figure out that I'm the best player here!"

"Excuse me?" asked George, puffing out his chest. "I'm _obviously_ the best. I mean, look at these beautiful babies!" he said, lifting up his arm and attempting to show it to everyone within six feet of him.

"You're right. That is enough flab to consist of several babies," said Ron nonchalantly. "And now, passing over the subject of George's non-existent, so called "muscles", who's up for the three way match?"

"I'll go for it. Just so that you lot can see how awesome my biceps are in motion," said George.

"Are you volunteering for Quidditch, or asking for a divorce?" asked Angelina scathingly.

"Quidditch, honey," he squeaked.

"Good," she replied, turning away from him. "I'm up for it, as well."

"Anyone else?" asked Ron. There was a general yes from the crowd, and one "Would you tell us the bloody teams already?" from an anonymous relative (*cough-_George_-cough*).

Okay, then," said Ron. He picked up a piece of parchment and tapped it with his wand twice. An invisible quill scribbled some words on it, then the parchment duplicated, and flew to each participant. It said…

_The Teams For First The (Un)Official Weasley Three-Way Quidditch Match:_

_Team One:_

_Seeker – Harry Potter_

_Keeper – Adonis Harris_

_Beater One – Roxanne Weasley_

_Beater Two – Louis Weasley_

_Chaser One – James Potter_

_Chaser Two – Audrey Weasley_

_Chaser Three – Lorcan Scamander_

_Team Two:_

_Seeker – Lily Potter_

_Keeper – Ron Weasley_

_Beater One – Fred Weasley_

_Beater Two - Dominique Weasley_

_Chaser One – Joanne Harris _

_Chaser Two – Angelina Weasley_

_Chaser Three – Teddy Lupin_

_Team Three:_

_Seeker – Ginny Potter_

_Keeper – Bill Weasley_

_Beater One – George Weasley_

_Beater Two – Hugo Weasley_

_Chaser One – Rose_ _Weasley_

_Chaser Two – Albus Potter_

_Chaser Three – Scorpius Malfoy_

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

_QUIDDITCH_

__-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-__

After reading the list, Scorpius and Rose laughed, then walked over to each other and high-fived. Both were Chasers on the Ravenclaw team, and they knew each other's moves well.

"Exactly like Hogwarts!" Rose exclaimed cheerily. "Thanks for pairing me with Scorp, Daddy!"

"Yeah, thanks Uncle Ron!" Scorpius called. Ron glared daggers at him. Scorpius backed up.

"Sorry, thanks Mr. Weasley," he corrected politely, grinning slightly. He turned back to his best friend, who was wearing an evil grin to mirror his own.

"So are we pulling the U.D.T.I.A.C.M.U.B.R.A.S., then?" he asked innocently.

"Like hell we are," said Rose.

"Language, dear Rosie," said Scorpius. "What would your father say if he heard you using such obscene words?"

"He's be proud that I'm just like him, and tell you to bugger off and leave me alone," said Rose, "and _don't call me Rosie_."

"But the name Rosie is a mark of our love," he said dramatically. "And without it, our relationship would break apart. And with that"- he bent down on one knee-"I say… Ros_i_e Nymphadora Weasley, will you do me the honours of being my wife?"

"Oh, Scorpius!" she cried, equally theatrically, "how can I refuse such a proposal? I accept, my darling, I accept!"

"But, alas! You family is against our marriage! We must elope and move to France!" he cried, picking her up, and carrying her away… and bumping into a fuming Ron.

"I knew it!" he accused. "I knew you two were going to run away and live in France! Didn't I specifically tell you, well, telepathically atleast, to stay away from him! Why must you disobey me like this, dear daughter, _why_?"

"How sweet of you to participate in their little charade, Ron!" beamed Hermione, walking over.

"Charade?" asked Ron blankly.

"_Ron!_" she said exasperatedly. "How could you not realize they were joking?"

"Elope…France…married…Malfoy grandkids…," muttered Ron, blushing furiously.

"Oh come on, it's about time you started your silly little Quidditch match," said Hermione, obviously not realizing the way her words affected the three beside her.

"_Silly_," asked Rose.

"_Little_," gasped Scorpius.

"_Quidditch match?_" squeaked Ron, his voice nearly an octave higher.

"Yeah," said Hermione nonchalantly, "I think Luna's commenting." Ron smiled at this.

"Great! I love it when Luna comments. I still remember our fifth year. _Loser's lurgy_, one of the best I've heard," said Ron happily.

"Okay, Dad, before you start going on about "Back in my day…", can we go play?" asked Rose, tugging at her father's sleeve.

"Huh? Oh, right. Let's go." In their hurry to get the game together they didn't notice the figure behind them lurking in the…daylight? They didn't notice that he had heard every word of what they were saying. They didn't realize that he had heard that they were going to use the U.D.T.I.A.C.M.U.B.R.A.S. in the game. They didn't realize that he was Lorcan Scamander, who was with them in the Ravenclaw Team, but against them in the Weasley Teams. They didn't realize that he knew exactly what the U.D.T.I.A.C.M.U.B.R.A.S. was. They didn't realize that he was at that moment telling the rest of his team members about it. They didn't realize their move was being publicised. They didn't realize that Lorcan Scamander had an Extendable Ear borrowed from Uncle George.

The U.D.T.I.A.C.M.U.B.R.A.S. was a move specially made by Rose and Scorpius. It stood for Upside Down Totally Incredibly Awesome Chaser Move Used By Rose And Scorpius. When either Scorpius or Rose had the Quaffle, the other would fly to the other side of the oncoming Chasers from the other team, and fly upside down. The person holding the Quaffle would pretend to throw overhead, then twist around, turn upside-down, and throw the ball underhanded. The person on the other side would then feint throwing upside down to the left, then flip right-side up, and throw left again, but into the right hoop. When being done, it looked pretty simple, but it involved many twists and turns. It had taker the two nearly four months to get the hang of flying upside down, and that too, only in their second year. The point of the upside down flying was to confuse the other Chasers, which they successfully managed to do every time. The only person who could ever predict what they were going to do was Al, but since he played Beater for the Gryffindor team, there wasn't much he could do about it. He couldn't hit them when they were upside down, because he would most likely hit one of his own team. Besides, Scorpius and Rose had just as good reflexes upside down as they did right side up. The U.D.T.I.A.C.M.U.B.R.A.S. got the Quaffle away from the opposing team every time.

Lorcan, like everybody else, would never be able to predict when the move was going to happen, but he could tell the rest of his team what to do when it happened… fly straight at them.

Meanwhile, the adults were turning the backyard of the Burrow into a Quidditch pitch. The trees in the orchard transformed into the large goals, the apples becoming the Snitch, the two Bludgers, and the Quaffle. In five minutes, a fully transformed Quidditch pitch took the place of the Burrow's backyard. There were magical boundaries outside the pitch so that nothing could harm the house in anyway, but the actual pitch was just as large and roomy as the one at Hogwarts. The only thing missing were the seats where the viewers sat, which were unnecessary now, seeing as the only ones not playing were the Weasley grandparents, Fleur, Victoire, Percy, Molly, Lucy, Hermione, Lysander, and Rolf. Luna was already in the Quidditch pitch, setting up a Commentator's Box.

"Where are we going to get our brooms from?" Adonis asked Rose.

"Well, we all usually bring our brooms with us when we come to the Burrow. I think Mum may be Transfiguring some for you and Joanne," she said. "Oh, and during the game, If you see either Scorp or I turn upside down, fly as far away as possible, okay? You might get hit by a Bludger," she added. "I'll go ask Mum about your brooms."

She came back several minutes later, carrying two brooms. She handed one to Adonis, then one to Joanne, who had walked over to the two.

"Oh, wow, a Firebolt!" exclaimed Adonis. "These were so popular, what, twenty-six years ago? They were considered the fastest brooms ever."

"My Uncle Harry had one. His godfather gave it to him in his third year. I think Mum Transfigured these from twigs, though, so they may not be as fast as you think," warned Rose.

"Atleast we have _something_ to fly on," said Joanne thankfully.

"WILL ALL QUIDDITCH PLAYERS PLEASE MAKE THEIR WAY TO THE QUIDDITCH PITCH. THE GAME WILL BEGIN IN EXACTLY FIVE MINUTES. EACH TEAM, PLEASE MOUNT YOUR BROOMS IN A STRAIGHT LINE BY YOUR GOALS. EACH TEAM WILL RECEIVE TWO MINUTES TO CHOOSE A TEAM NAME, AND THEN THE OFFICIAL THREE WAY WEASLEY QUIDDITCH GAME WILL BEGIN!" called Ron, once again having used Sonorous.

"Better get going, then," said Rose, grabbing her own broom from the ground, and walking into the pitch. Adonis and Joanne shared a look, then followed Rose into the Quidditch pitch. Harry, Roxanne, Louis, James, Audrey, and Lorcan were huddled together, most likely deciding on a team name, as were Lily, Ron, Fred, Dominique, Angelina, and Teddy. Ginny, Bill, George, Hugo, Al, Scorpius, and Rose were also off by their hoops, discussing their team name. Joanne walked over beside Lily, and joined in the conversation with the rest of her team. Adonis walked over by Roxanne and did the same. Exactly two minutes later, Luna blew an extremely shrill whistle.

"Your time is up!" she called, using Sonorous, like Ron. **(A/N – During the match, whenever Luna is commentating, it won't be in capitals, even though she's using Sonorous. It's going to be in regular uppercase and lowercase.)** "Please inform me of your team names, so that I can put them on the scoreboard."

"Geez, Luna," shouted Ginny, "when did _you_ get so serious?"

"I think the gernumblies may have gifted me with it," she said seriously.

"Gernumblies?" whispered Joanne.

"Garden gnomes," clarified Ron. "She's a bit… loopy."

"Team names, please," said Luna impatiently.

"We're the Weird Wizards!" called George.

"We are most certainly not the Weird Wizards," said Ginny firmly.

"There are girls on this team, too," Rose pointed out.

"Just you and Ginny," argued George.

"We are _not_ the Weird Wizards, and that's final," said Ginny, whipping out her wand, and shoving it her brother's face. "Now, unless you want your other ear cursed off, as well, _take that back_." George slowly backed away.

"Yes, ma'am," he gulped.

"We're the Phoenixes," shouted Harry, whilst the brother-sister duo fought. Luna tapped the scoreboard with her wand, and _Phoenixes_ appeared in bright red letters.

"Our team name is the Cannon"-everybody groaned-"balls," called Ron. "You didn't think I'd name our team the Cannons, did you?" he said, grinning.

"Yes," chorused the others. Ron's face fell.

"Oh."

Luna tapped the scoreboard once again, and the name _Cannonballs_ showed up in emerald green.

"We're the –no George! Not the Wild Wizards, either! We're the –_no, George_! We're-" Ginny glanced quickly at her brother to make sure he wasn't about to suggest another name, "the Muggle-O-Maniacs."

-_insert cricket chirping here-_

"And you say the Weird Wizards is too _eccentric_," cried George. "Oh, the unfairness! Oh, the-"

"It was a group decision," interjected Ginny. George stopped his rant immediately.

"Where the bloody hell was I?" he asked.

"You were trying to see if you could get your finger all the way up your nose," replied Bill dryly.

"You failed miserably, by the way," added Hugo.

"Oh."

Luna tapped the scoreboard one last time, and _Muggle-O-Maniacs_ appeared in sky blue.

"Please mount your brooms, everyone. Five…four…three…two-"

"Hold on!" called Ron. Fourteen males (Adonis was blindly following them) walked to the corner of the pitch.

"What are you lot doing now?" demanded Ginny. As if to answer, all fourteen pulled off their shirts.

"What the hell?" asked Lily.

"It's ho-ot," protested Lorcan.

"Then we should be able to take our shirts off, too," replied Ginny, leading the rest to the corner with the boys.

"Oh, no," cut in Ron. "I am not having my baby sister, my daughter, my nieces, and the girl I'm watching for a few weeks, strip in front of a load of guys."

"Excuse me?" asked Ginny. "_Baby_ sister? I'm _married_, Ron! Besides, we're related to all these people, and we're all wearing clothes underneath."

"_You_ may be married, but Dominique, Roxanne, Joanne, Rose, and Lily aren't. And Adonis, Scorpius, Teddy, and Lorcan aren't related. Who knows what they might see," shot back Ron.

"Teddy's _engaged_," said Bill. "To my _daughter_. He'd better not be staring at girls without shirts."

"And Scorpius is dating someone," added Hugo.

"_WHAT?_" yelped Ron. He immediately turned to his daughter. "How long has this been going on?" he asked weakly.

"Daddy!" cried Rose. "It's not me! He's going out with Joanne!" Ron visibly relaxed.

"Okay, then. So Scorpius is out then. What about Lorcan and Ado-"

"Too young," said Ginny firmly.

"Well, what about-"

"Nope," she said simply. "Everyone but you is fine with it. We win. Girls can take off their shirts." And with that, all fourteen girls turned around, and peeled their sweaty shirts off.

"Ready to start?" smirked Lily.

"It's rude to stare, you know," added Roxanne.

"I've got a boyfriend," said Dominique, walking away. Half the boys were staring, open-mouthed. The girls walked away, and mounted their brooms, leaving the boys gaping behind them.

"Oh, stop drooling, you lot!" snapped Ron.

"You'd better not be staring at Lily," warned Harry.

"Or Roxanne," added George.

"Or Dom," said Bill.

"Or any of our wives," they all chimed in.

"_You forgot to mention Rose,"_ Scorpius thought.

They all walked back to their brooms together. Luna began the countdown once more. "Five…four…three…two…" She blew her shrill whistle, indicating that they begin.

Eighteen brooms shot up into the air. Ron, Bill, and Adonis had gone up slightly earlier to wait at the hoops. Harry, Ginny, and Lily hovered up above the rest, scanning for the small, Golden Snitch, while below them, Audrey and Angelina were racing to catch the falling Quaffle. Audrey snatched it from the air, quickly passing it to James beside her, who sped over to Ron's goals. He aimed for the left hoop, and threw with all his might, but just as it was about to go in, Ron dove to his left with his arms out… and got hit in the face by the Quaffle. Rose raced forward to catch it while her father's teammates rushed over to check for injuries, but Teddy got to it first. She pretended to go for the left, then grabbed at her right, taking the Quaffle from his hands.

She passed to Scorpius, who was hovering by Adonis' hoops. He caught it deftly, and threw it almost immediately back, as a Bludger came dangerously close to his hands. Rose shot towards the hoops to catch the large, red ball, and threw it into the center hoop. Adonis barely tried to stop it. He was flying by the right hoop, and when he saw Rose coming with the Quaffle in hand, he flew to the left hoop. He made no effort at all to protect the center hoop, and the other teams scored several goals using that tactic.

"And that's fifty to the Muggle-O-Maniacs, ten to the Cannonballs, and twenty for the Phoenixes. Make that twenty to the Cannonballs, as Teddy Lupin makes a spectacular throw into the Phoenixes' left hoop. And there's Rose Weasley with the Quaffle, I quite like her," said Luna thoughtfully, "she knows nearly as much as I do about nargles. Did you know they breed sixty times a- and she scores! Straight into the Cannonballs' center hoop. Looks like her dad is mad. He went to our Yule Ball with Padma Patil. She didn't like him very much. Ooh, it looks like Ginny Potter has spotted the Snitch. She's speeding down, and, no, it's just the glare of her husband's wristwatch. She's doing a bit of glaring now, herself. And Joanne Harris in possession of the- ooh! A Wrackspurt! Sorry, got a bit distracted there. Joanne is speeding towards the Phoenix's hoops. Looks like it's going to be sibling vs. sibling. No! Al Potter takes it right out of her hands, still aiming for the same goals, though. And he scores! Our score is now sixty to the Muggle-O-Maniacs, ten to the, no, twenty to the Cannonballs, Angelina has scored again! And, twenty to the Phoenixes. And Al passes to Rose. She darts in between James Potter and Lorcan Scamander. Hi, Lorcy! You're doing great! Make sure the Harnungles don't get up your nose!"

As Rose flew to Scorpius to pass him the Quaffle, she muttered, "She's having some mood swings there, isn't she?"

Grabbing the Quaffle, he replied, "Maybe it's that time of the month. You know how _you_ get." Rose flushed. Once a month, Rose was the moodiest person in the castle. Happy, sad, angry – you never knew how she'd react.

"Oh, shut up," she said, shoving him playfully. "Are we U.D.T.I.A.C.M.U.B.R.A.S.-ing soon?"

"You know the signal," he said, ducking a Bludger. "When you feel it's necessary, do it."

"Got it." She flew away, the Quaffle in her possession once more. She dove for Adonis' hoop, but a Bludger hit her hand, and she dropped the large ball, instead grabbing her aching hand. As far as she could tell, nothing was broken, but someone else had grabbed the Quaffle. She was glad to see that the someone else was Al, speeding towards the same goal as she had. Several moments later, he passed the Quaffle back to her, when all six opposing Chasers flew directly at him. Now, they were splitting up. James and Audrey guarded Al carefully, while Angelina and Teddy were coming to her. Joanne and Lorcan were flying in circles around Scorpius, whom Rose could see was doing his best to avoid them.

"_It's time_," she thought. She stuck up her pinkie and index finger. That was the signal indicating that U.D.T.I.A.C.M.U.B.R.A.S. would begin now.

_.War._

Scorpius, seeing the signal, flew to the nearest goal, Ron's, at once. He flipped over, turning himself completely upside-down. The Chasers, who were all going at Rose now, didn't notice. Rose, seeing her friend flip over, commenced with the rest of the plan. She feinted an overhead pass, then did the tricky twist, and flew upside down, mirroring Scorpius. The Quaffle passed smoothly under the brooms of all six Chasers. Five of them tried to dive down and catch it, only to end up hurtling to the ground. Only Joanne stayed in the air. She could see Scorpius aiming. She had gone to enough Ravenclaw vs. Gryffindor games to know that this was the part where he scored, once more. She flew forward, and did the only thing she could think of at the moment… She kissed him.

The result was instant. He dropped the Quaffle as soon as their lips touched. Luckily, Rose dove down, and caught it. Taking advantage of the shock of the moment, she also managed to score two goals, one in her father's right hoop, one in Adonis' center hoop. It looked like the three Seekers were doing the same thing. Using this time to scan the pitch for the elusive Snitch.

It looked like Harry had lucked out, because a moment later, he was rushing to the very corner of the pitch, his hand extended. Lily, seeing her father dive, followed him. As she had already been pretty low down, she only had to fly to her right. Ginny, it seemed, had also seen something, but on the other side of the pitch. Scorpius and Joanne's mouths were still locked in a firm embrace. Everybody else was concentrating on the three Seekers. Rose spotted it before the rest. Her Aunt Ginny was the one going in the right direction. What Uncle Harry had seen were Al's spare glasses. He kept them in the pocket of his shirt wherever he went, after he had accidently broken his glasses Flooing. Harry and Lily were flying to the place where they had all left their shirts. But by the time the other two realized what they were going after, Ginny was only five feet from the Snitch, four feet, three, two...

Luna blew her whistle sharply. "Ginny Potter's caught the Snitch! The Muggle-O-Maniacs have won with two hundred thirty points. The Phoenixes are second with one hundred and ten, and the Cannonballs third with ninety points!"

"See, Ron, " laughed George. "_That's_ why you shouldn't name your team after the last in the league."  
"Oh, come off it," he grumbled. "We'd have won if _someone_ *cough -_Al _- cough* hadn't left their spare glasses out."

"You two _are_ coming up for air every now and then, right?" grinned Hugo, walking up to Joanne and Scorpius, who were still snogging fiercely in the corner, both still on their brooms. They broke apart, both blushing furiously.

"Got a bit carried away," mumbled Joanne, so softly, it was barely a whisper.

"Why's everyone cheering, and carrying Al's mum?" asked Scorpius. Hugo rolled his eyes.

"Your team won, idiot! Aunt Ginny caught the Snitch!"

"We did? When did that happen?" asked Scorpius, completely unaware.

"When you two were shoving your tongues down each other's throats," said Hugo, still laughing.

"Oh," he mumbled, as quietly as Joanne. "There's Rose. I'd better go congratulate her. She scored most of our goals."

"Rose! _Rosie!_ ROSE!" he yelled, running over to her.

"They're really close, aren't they?" she asked softly.

"Yeah," Hugo replied. Seeing the look on her face, he added, "Don't worry, they're just friends…for now." Her face fell. "But for another few years, until they realize just how close they are, Scorpius will be all yours."

"They really don't know, do they?" asked Joanne, seeing the two of them sharing a warm hug. Hugo nodded.

"Like I said, you have a few more years. They're both way too thick to figure it out yet. I reckon he's going to be pretty happy with you. And until Rose gets it, she will, too."

"How long have they been like this?"

"Three years," he replied.

"They've been oblivious that long?"

"They've never realized it. I think they feel something, but knowing my sister, they probably pass it off as a sibling relationship. Or knowing Scorpius, gas."

"We're not going to last very long, are we?"

"Probably not. But what matters is that you got something. Sometimes, it's not about how much time there is. It's what you do in that time."

The distance between them had lessened a great deal since the conversation had started.

"Er, guys?" came a happy voice. "You know your noses are touching, right?" They both turned around to see Scorpius, his arms wrapped around Rose's shoulders.

"Er, staring contest?" Hugo muttered.

"Oh. Those are quite fun. Remember that one we had in first year, Rosie?"

"Yeah, yeah. I won ten Galleons off you," she reminisced.  
"That wasn't a fair contest, there was dust in my eyes," complained Scorpius.

"Fine, then. Let's have another one, right here, right now," Rose challenged.

"No fair! There's sun in my eyes now!"

"You'll be the death of me, Scorp. Shall we go indoors, you wuss?"

"I am not a wuss!"

"Then suck it up, and have the contest!"

"Fine."

"Princess?"

"Wha- Princess?"

"I win…"

***

**Another chapter done! *phew* This chapter took me a bloody long time. It's all because of the Quidditch match.**

**Anyway, in this chapter, we've seen:**

**-A load of Rose/Scorpius friendship**

**-The beginning of a Scorpius/Joanne**

**-Possibly some Joanne/Hugo?**

_**Questions For This Chapter:**_

1) Was the Quidditch game written properly?

2) Which relationships do you think will make it to the end?

3) Which line from this chapter was your favorite? Least favorite?

4) Chapter rating? (you guys know the drill… 1 – 10)

***yawn* Ah, I'm too tired to write any more. Thanks for reading…review on your way out…blah, blah, blah…**

_._


	8. Of Staring, Desserts, And Letters

**Disclaimer – I own the Harry Potter books! Er, well, copies of them at least…**

**A/N – I saw the **_Half-Blood Prince_** on Thursday! I thought it was okay. Pretty hilarious, but not the best film so far. It really bugged me that they skipped loads of parts, and made up a third of it. Nothing from the beginning was in the books. Neither was a part in the middle. Which parts these are, I shall not reveal for the people who have not yet seen the movie. I think the actors did pretty well, the part I disliked was just the not-using-lots-of-parts and the making-loads-of-it-up. My Rating: 7/10**

**A/N 2 – If you haven't yet noticed, I changed my penname from **.** back to **Drishti Choudhury**. That used to be my penname before I changed it to **.**.**

**A/N 3 – I take a summer course at Johns Hopkins University, and that course will begin on July 20****th**** (Monday). The course involves a lot of work, so I won't be posting any new chapters once it begins. The course only finishes at the end of August, so up until then, no new chapters (aside from this one, obviously). I have the next four chapters planned out, though, so as soon as my course finishes (even though school will have begun), I should be able to post regularly again. I shall now end this annoyingly large Author's Note, and begin the actual chapter. Enjoyyy!**

***

_Previously On __**Caretakers**__:_

"_Then suck it up, and have the contest!"_

"_Fine."_

"_Princess?"_

"_Wha- Princess?"_

"_I win…"_

***

Chapter Eight: Of Staring, Dessert, And Letters

"Jerk."

"Loser."

_"Shut it, you two!" _groaned Hugo.

"Cheater."

"How did I cheat?" asked Scorpius

"You called me a strange name, causing me to look up and blink," countered Rose.

"Hardly my fault," shrugged Scorpius.

"_Entirely_ your fault," corrected Rose.

"I'm leaving," said Hugo. "C'mon, Joanne, I'll show you the house." He and Joanne walked away, going into the Burrow for a Hugo Grand Tour.

"Want a rematch?" Scorpius. asked.

"_Yes_," said Rose firmly.

"Place a bet?" he asked.

"Galleons?" she said, checking her pockets.

"Nope," he replied.

"Fiv- _nope_?" Rose asked, puzzled.

"Date," he said.

"Date?" she repeated.

"You have to come on my date with Joanne with me."

"What if I win?" she asked.

"Unlikely, but I can…" Scorpius began.

"Do whatever I want for a week," interjected Rose.

"_A week_?" he complained.

"If I have to suffer through _another_ date with you, it's only fair you do what I say for one, measly, week," she answered. "Speaking of which, why do you always bring me on your first dates?"

"Because," he said, drawing it out as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "you can translate _girl talk_ for me, and if I end up hating the girl, I can pretend you're my girlfriend to get her to back off."

"So I'm a ruse to get away from annoying girls?" asked Rose angrily, whipping out her wand.

"No, no, no," he replied, backing away. "You're my sweet, innocent best friend, who would _never hurt me_. And you're not a ruse, you're my temporary girlfriend."

"Nice save," she muttered sarcastically, stowing her wand in her sleeve. "Why do you need me on your date with Joanne? You've already snogged, quite a bit at that, and using me as your _girlfriend_ won't work, because she already know how we are."

"Maybe if I snog you a bit, she'll forget about that," he mused.

"_Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy!_" Rose shrieked. "No!"

"I was joking!" he said, lifting his arms in surrender. "Merlin's balls, woman! Am I really that bad?"

"No, but I-" she began.

"Oh, so you wouldn't mind kissing me, then?" he asked, smirking as she wailed another "No!". "Y'know, I doubt I would ever snog _you_ anyway."

"Excuse me?" she asked, stepping towards him with a dangerous look on her face. "What do you mean, _you would never snog me anyway_? Am I un-snoggable?"

"Un-snoggable?" he asked.

"Answer the question," she snarled.

"No," he answered. "What I meant was… I think of you as my _incredibly amazing_ best friend, and would never dream of using you as a ruse to scare a potential girlfriend away?"

"Is that a question or an answer?"

"Answer?" he squeaked, his reply once again sounding like a question.

"Whatever," she muttered, walking away. Scorpius, sensing something wrong, ran to catch up with her.

"Rose? What did I say, now?" he asked. She whipped around to face him, and he was startled to see glistening tears in her eyes.

"What did you say? _What did you say?_ Oh, nothing, besides rubbing it in my face that I'm never going to be snogged!"

_"Girls!"_ thought Scorpius._ "Merlin knows what hidden meanings they find in every sentence!"_ Aloud, he said, "Rose, come on. I didn't mean that. I really meant what I said, that I saw you as my best friend, and not as a girl to snog, just to make somebody else jealous."

"Really?" she sniffled, fighting back tears.

"Really," he said firmly. "Rosie, I bet you'll get kissed your first day back. I bet the only reason you haven't been kissed yet is because people are scared senseless of your scarily overprotective dad."

"Don't call me Rosie," she said, breaking into a smile. "Hey, we still need to have our staring rematch."

"Ready, set, _go_!" They both stared at each other, never blinking once, until-

"Rosie! Scorpius! It's time for lunch!" called Molly Weasley (Sr.) from the doorway of the Burrow. They both turned around… and blinked.

"I won," said Scorpius triumphantly.

"No way! You blinked first!" argued Rose.

"You're just jealous that I have better staring abilities than you," he said, walking into the Burrow.

"You do not!" cried Rose, walking ahead of him and into the dining room.

"Do, too," he said.

"Five year-old," she shot back.

"Two year-old," he replied.

"What are they fighting about now?" asked Louis.

"Merlin knows," groaned Lucy.

"Oi, you two. Stop it with the Lovers Tiff," called Al.

"We are not dating!" Rose and Scorpius shouted simultaneously. Everyone at the table rolled their eyes.

"We know _that_," said Roxy simply.

"We all saw dear Scorpy's -ahem- _closeness_ to Joanne this evening," added Fred. Both Scorpius and Joanne flushed at this.

"Atleast they stopped," said Sophia solemnly. "Hugo told me that Rose and Scorpius snog for hours on the couch, _without stopping_." Both Rose and Scorpius glared at Hugo.

"That was before Scorpius' display on the Quidditch pitch," said Hugo.

"Will you lot stop about that?" cried Scorpius. "It was just a simple snog."

"Simple, my arse," snorted Dominique. "I haven't seen so much tongue since-"

"Stop teasing Scorpius, now," called Ginny from the other end of the table. "As close as he may be to the family, he's still a guest."

"Rose, on the other hand," said George, grinning wickedly, "_is_ definitely family, so tease her all you want!" Rose glared daggers at her ex-favorite uncle. He shrugged absently.

"Rosie and Scorpius," began Fred.

"Sitting in a tree," sang Lily.

"K…," added Hugo.

"I…," Lysander chimed in now.

"S…," Aurora's voice joined the group.

"S…," Roxy's voice was added to the mix.

"I…," James pitched in.

"N…," sang Molly (Jr.)

"G…," they all sang.

"First comes love," Victoire, who was usually pretty mature about these things, couldn't help adding her voice to the group.

"Then comes marriage," sang Teddy, joining his fiancé.

"Then comes Scorpy with the baby carriage!" they finished. George, as well as the rest of the kids (excluding Rose and Scorpius, of course), clapped heartily as the song finished. After some more clapping, and a load of glaring from Rose, dinner continued peacefully.

***

After they left, they were all so tired from the action-packed Quidditch match, they felt the need to take a long, _long_ nap. Well, Ron, Rose, Hugo, and Adonis atleast. Hermione, Aurora, and Sophia busied themselves in the meantime by preparing dinner, Hermione doing most of the work, while the two girls worked on a pie for dessert.

When the other four awoke, it was nearly nine, and they started dinner immediately. Ron, Hugo, and Rose, as usual, shovelled their food into their mouths, and were done in hardly five minutes. Rose, atleast, had the decency to wipe her mouth with a napkin, and stifle her burp. The other two simply wiped their mouths on their sleeves, and burped loudly several times.

"Honestly, Ron," said Hermione reproachfully. "You should know better. You too, Hugo. Use your napkins!" Hugo and his father exchanged a look.

"Why waste napkins when we have sleeves?" they grinned.

"Well you could _try_ not to burp at the table," replied Hermione, trying to look disgusted.

"Mu-um! When you have to burp, you have to burp!" cried Hugo, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Remember that time Fred and I were having a burping contest? And you punched me, and told me to hold it in? I was choking for an hour after that!" said Ron.

"Seven seconds, Ron, seven seconds," sighed Hermione. "_Honestly_. Viktor used to say one of the nicest things about me were my manners."

"Did _Vicky_ say that?" asked Ron, mockingly.

"Shut._Up_.Ronald," said Hermione threateningly.

"Viktor? Viktor Krum?" asked Adonis.

"Er, yeah," said Hermione, glancing briefly at her husband, "we dated for a bit…"

"Okay!" said Ron loudly. "I think it's time for dessert, isn't it?" He waved airily at the clean plates sitting in front of them. Only Rose and Hermione noticed Ron's wand sticking out of his pocket.

"Hey! Where'd my potatoes go?" asked Aurora.

"Weren't there still peas left on my plate?" Joanne wondered aloud.

"I could have sworn I still had some carrots left," said Adonis thoughtfully.

"We made pie!" cried Sophia.

"Great!" said Hugo and Ron together.

"What flavour?" asked Rose.

"It's a surprise," said Hermione, Aurora, and Sophia. Hermione went into the kitchen, returning with a large, delicious-looking pie, and a knife, along with several small plates.

"You couldn't have Summoned it?" asked Ron. Rose and Hugo winced at the word "Summoned". They could still remember their most recent experience with the Summoning Charm.

"I didn't want it to bang into any walls or anything," Hermione replied, cutting the pie into eight pieces. She placed one slice on each plate, then handed them out. Ron took the first bite.

"Mmm, pumpkin pie," he said, his mouth full of aforementioned pie.

"It's apple, Dad," argued Hugo, his mouth equally full.

"Mine's cherry," interjected Rose, taking small, neat bites of her slice.

"I've got strawberry," added Joanne. They all stopped chewing abruptly.

"Strawberry pie?" asked Hugo.

"They _make_ strawberry pie?" asked Rose.

"What in Merlin's name is a _strawberry_ pie?" asked Ron. Joanne shrugged.

"I don't know, it just tastes like strawberries," she replied.

"How can one pie taste like pumpkin, apple, cherry, and strawberry all at once?" Rose wondered aloud. Her eyes narrowed in the direction of her guilty-looking mother. "That is, unless _someone_ put a charm on said pie."

"Guilty as charged," said Hermione, smiling and grabbing her own slice of pie. "I charmed it to taste different for each person, depending on what they liked."

"What charm was it?" asked Rose, always ready to learn something new.

"Hocaz?" asked Hugo, stuffing pie in his mouth.

"I do," replied Rose stiffly.

"What did he say?" asked Adonis curiously.

"He asked who cares," answered Rose. "After living with him for eleven and a half years, you grow to understand whatever language he speaks while eating."

***

Ten minutes later, when the Weasley-Harris family were full and content, they shifted from the dining room to the living room.

"Merlin trousers!" said Rose suddenly. "I just realized it's only the first day you lot have been here!"

"Oh yeah!" said Hugo. "It feels like you've been here for ages."

"My first day, and I've already gotten a date," smiled Joanne. "Rose, you'll help me get ready, right? And tell me a bit more about Scorpius? Please?"

"Of course, Joanne," she replied. "I may actually be coming with you on the date."

"Is that normal?" Joanne asked.

"Er, no. Scorp has this crazy theory that girls speak a different language, and he needs me to translate for him. I may also have lost a bet," said Rose, purposely leaving out the part about being a temporary girlfriend if things didn't work out.

"Okay, then?" Joanne replied. "Will you help me pick out some clothes and all tomorrow?"

"Sure. Right now, I'm too sleepy to walk up the stairs, let alone help you find clothes to wear," laughed Rose. "Speaking of which, I think I'll go to bed now. Coming, anyone?"

"Me!" called the rest of the room. They all stood up, yawning, and made their way to the stairs. When Rose entered her room, she found a handsome grey owl waiting on her pillow for her.

"Hi, Caesius," she whispered, going to her desk to retrieve an Owl Treat for her. Once she had dug one up from under her summer homework, she walked back over to the bed. She sat down, and fed Caesius the small treat. "Did Scorp give you a letter for me, or did you just come for a visit?"

Caesius hooted indignantly, while sticking her left leg out, as if to say _"I'm a messenger, of course I have a letter!"_ Rose gently tugged the parchment free of the ribbon that bound it to the owl's leg. It read,

_Dear Rosie,_

_Could you please tell Joanne that we're going to have to reschedule our Hogsmeade date? Mum's planning (yet another) ball, and it just so happens to be this Saturday. She says that she's invited the Potters, and the entire Weasley family, as well as nearly everyone else in the Wizarding world, and has suggested that I come as well. Which, translated, means, I am being forced to come to this ball._

_Speaking of which, could you also ask Joanne if she'd like to come to the ball with me? You're obviously welcome, as well, if you'll even come. This __**is**__an event that requires a dress. You know, those things that __**girls**__wear to parties?_

_Another thing, I have come to a solution for our bet. We can do both; you come on the date, and I'll do what you say. Is that a deal? About the date, can you ask Joanne if day after tomorrow is okay? Oh, and one more thing, can you also ask her if I can call her Jo? It's loads easier than Joanne. Please send a reply with Caesius. I've instructed him not to leave until he gets a reply from either you or Jo(anne)._

_Love From,_

_Scorpius_

She left another Owl Treat on the bed for Caesius, then went to Joanne's room to show her the letter. Adonis was helping Sophia wear her nightdress, while Aurora searched her suitcase for something, most likely her nightclothes. She walked over to Joanne's bed, where she could see a the owl cage she had been carrying in the morning.

"Oh, it's a Scops!" Rose exclaimed. "My dad had one when he was younger. What's it's name?"

"Her name is Aclantis," Joanne replied, putting her suitcase under the bed. "It means "small bird" in Latin."

"I have a kitty!" called Sophia from the other side of the room, pointing to the cage beside the bunk bed. "His name is Fulvus. He's a noozel. No, wait… He's a nissle. No… "

"He's a kneazle," said Aurora gently.

"Fulvus means "brownish" in Latin, right?" Rose asked. Joanne nodded.

"This is Intempesta," said Adonis, gesturing to his own glossy, black owl. "Her name means "the dead of night" in Latin."

"I have a macaw," added Aurora. "Her name is Clamosa. It means "noisy" in-"

"Let me guess?" interjected Rose. "It means "noisy" in Latin, right?" Everybody in the room, except Sophia, who was trying to get her arm in the armhole of her nightdress, nodded.

"What's in your hand?" asked Joanne suddenly. Rose then remembered that she had come to show Joanne the letter. She unfurled it, and held it out. Joanne took it, then read over it quickly. Rose could see her lips silently forming each word of the letter. After a moment, she smiled, and handed the paper back to Rose.

"That was sweet," she said happily. Rose couldn't honestly see what was so "sweet" about it, but she bit her tongue and smiled politely.

"Are we making one together, or two separate?" Joanne asked.

"Huh?"

"Replies," said Joanne. "Are we writing a reply together, or do you want to sent two separate replies?"

"Maybe we should sent separate ones," answered Rose. "We each have different things to tell him, and it might confuse his tiny brain if we put it all into one letter."

"Sounds good," replied Joanne.

"I'll ask Mum to make another copy of the letter so that we can both remember what we're answering," said Rose, heading for her Mum and Dad's room. She returned a moment later, holding out a copy of Scorpius' letter. After giving it to Joanne, she went back to her own room to compose a reply.

_Dear Scorp,_

_Do. Not. Call. Me. Rosie! Haven't we gone over this millions of times before? And don't go on about it being a "mark of our love". And stop smirking! Yes, I know that you're smirking right now. I've known you long enough to realize which sentences you'll smirk at. Didn't I just tell you to stop?!_

_I've given Joanne a copy of your letter, and she'll be sending her own reply to it, so another letter should be arriving with mine._

_On the subject of the ball; are you implying that I'm not a girl? Since you have no idea what I'm talking about, yes I know, I quote your sentence, "You're obviously welcome, as well, if you'll even come. This __**is**__an event that requires a dress. You know, those things that __**girls**__wear to parties?" Just to prove you wrong, you can tell your Mum that I most certainly __**will**__be attending the ball. And I __**will**__ be wearing a dress. Shove __**that**__ up your arse!_

_I like your solution for the bet, but wouldn't it be easier to just admit that I won? You'd probably get me to come on your date anyway, so I think the better solution is to just stop lying to yourself._

_Hugs,_

_Rose (NOT Rosie)_

_P.S. Your week of slavery starts the day after the date._

She read over her letter once more, then rolled it up and attached it to Caesius' leg. Joanne came after ten minutes to tie her letter next to Rose's. Together they sent the grey owl out of Rose's bedroom window.

"Will he reply?" asked Joanne.

"Of course," yawned Rose. "I'm going to go to bed now, I'll see you… in the… morning…" She could barely finish her sentence before she yawned once more. Joanne took the hint, and left the room, shutting the door behind her, and going into her own room.

***

The next morning, Scorpius saw Caesius waiting for him at the window of the room he was sharing with Al, two letters attached to his leg. He tiptoed over to the window, trying not to wake Al, who was currently drooling all over his sheets. He read Rose's reply first. Laughing, he scribbled a reply.

_Dear Ros__**i**__e,_

_Feeling a bit rude today, are we? You can't tell me that Rosie isn't a mark of our love, because it clearly is. Notice the heavily written "I" in "Rosie"? And why in the name of Merlin would you think I smirked as I read your letter. As a matter of fact, the only time I smirked was when you said, I quote, "Shove __**that**__ up your arse!" _

_By the way, I am deeply offended that you would want me to shove something up my arse, especially you wearing a dress. I never knew you liked me like that, Rosie! I feel quite flattered, though._

_In reply to your theory about our bet – It most certainly would not be easier to admit anything, because the only thing for me to admit is that I have incredible staring skills. I imagine that after reading that sentence you're saying "You twat!", or are planning on writing it. Am I correct? I know I am…_

_Love From,_

_Scorpius_

_P.S. Do you even __**own**__a dress? Please don't wear that hideous pink and purple thing Lily bought you last March. Or the neon shoes that go with them…_

Next, he opened Joanne's letter. It read,

_Dearest Scorpius,_

_Rose showed me your letter. It was so sweet!_

He stopped reading for a second. _"What in Merlin's name was sweet about that?"_ he wondered. _"Trust girls to find some hidden meaning in everything! I implied that Rose wasn't a girl! I see no "sweet" in that!"_ Shaking his head, he went back to reading.

_Dearest Scorpius,_

_Rose showed me your letter. It was so sweet! I don't mind having to reschedule Hogsmeade. Day after tomorrow will be perfectly fine. Same time? By the way, how in the name of Merlin are we going to get into Hogsmeade? We're (you, me, and Rose) are all underage._

_As for the ball, I would love to attend it. What type of ball is it? It's not a masquerade, is it? I really hate masquerades. I always think it's rather pointless, only covering your nose and forehead, isn't it?_

_Jo is okay to call me. Most of my friends call me Jo, anyway. Well, some call me Annie, but mostly Jo. I'm actually surprised the Weasleys haven't already started calling me Jo. It seems like nearly everybody has a nickname. Teddy (Theodore), Vic (Victoire), Dom (Dominique), Lou (Louis), Mol(Molly), Luce (Lucy), Roxy (Roxanne), Al (Albus), Lils (Lily), Rosie (Rose), Lorc (Lorcan), Sander (Lysander), and, you, Scorp! Merlin, I can't believe I remembered all that! Actually, Hugo came in about five minutes ago, and wrote them all on a bit of parchment._

_Reply Back Soon!_

_Jo(anne)_

He read over it one more time, scanning for anything that could help him on his date tomorrow. The most he could find was, "_I really hate masquerades_".

"Er, mate? Why do you keep saying "I hate masquerades." over and over again?" Scorpius turned around. Al was sitting up on his bed, rubbing his eyes wearily.

"Mental preparation for my date," he muttered. "Al, why are you up? It isn't noon yet."

"I should be asking you the same thing," replied Al, yawning. "It's five in the bloody morning. I think your "mental prep" can wait for at least seven more hours."

"It's not just that, I sent Rose a letter last night, and I figured she'd have sent a reply by now," Scorpius answered, rolling up Joanne's letter.

"Ah," said Al, nodding wisely. "So you were waiting for Rose's letter at-" he checked the clock by his bed "5:08 in the morning. I call that obsession."

"It's not obsession," scowled Scorpius. "Joanne was replying, too."

"Well, yes," said Al, "but you didn't know that until you read Rosie's letter, did you?"

"No," admitted Scorpius. "Wait – how did you know that?"

"I had to use the loo about half-an hour ago," said Al dismissively. "Caesius was lying on my pillow when I came back. I couldn't resist. It's so much fun to read other people's mail," he shrugged.

"Al! That's violating my privacy!" cried Scorpius. "What if we had been planning your birthday party or something?"

"My birthday isn't until December, remember?" replied Al. "And could you tell Rosie not to wear that _horrid_ pink and purple thing that Lily bought her in March? Tell her not to wear the matching neon shoes, either," he added. Scorpius chuckled, but nodded anyway.

"Hey, Al?" he asked. "Would your mum mind if I used the Floo?"

"Nah," replied Al, getting back into his bed. "I'm going back to bed; please don't wake me up until noon." Scorpius exited the room, making his way to the living room where the family stored their Floo powder. He took a bit in his hand, then threw it into the fireplace. He stuck his head in.

"Malfoy Manor," he said. Several green flames later, his head appeared in the fireplace of Malfoy Manor.

"Mum!" he called. "Mu-um! Dad! _Mum_!" After a few more shouts, his mother appeared by the fireplace.

"Scorpius!" she exclaimed. "What are you doing here? Er, well, what's your _head_ doing here?"

"I just wanted to tell you some more people who are coming to Saturday's ball," he said casually. "The Potters are coming, and so are the entire Weasley family. Oh, and my date wants to know if it's going to be a masquerade." His mum nodded, but looked very confused at that.

"If Rose wanted to know about the ball, why couldn't she have asked herself? It _is_ a masquerade, by the way." Astoria added. Scorpius groaned.

"Mu-um! Rose isn't my date! Why does everybody think she and I are dating?" he cried. Astoria looked like a puppy left out in the rain.

"I guess I owe your father ten Galleons, then," she said, reaching into her pockets.

"You _bet_ on us?" asked Scorpius incredulously.

"Scorpius, dear, half the Wizarding world has bet on you," Astoria laughed. "Not only have we, but the Potters, Weasleys, Scamanders, and Longbottoms have, too!"

"How is that considered half the Wizarding world?" he asked.

"All the cousins were gambling, too," she replied. "Every single one of them. If either your father or I lose, we're going to lose about eight hundred Galleons."

"Merlin's beard! How many bloody people have you been making bets with?" cried Scorpius. Then he shook his head. "No, on second thoughts, I really don't want to know."

"Well, is you're not going out with Rose, _yet_, then who _is_ your date?" Astoria asked.

"Joanne Harris," he replied gruffly, still annoyed that his family had been placing bets on him.

"Hmm," said Astoria thoughtfully. "I've never heard of her. What are her parents' names?"

"She's McGonagall's daughter," he said.

"Professor," Astoria corrected automatically. "Wait – McGonagall?"

"_Professor_ McGonagall, Mum," grinned Scorpius. "Yeah."

"Bloody hell."

"Mind your language, Scorpius!" said Astoria.

"That wasn't me, Mum," he answered.

"That was me, actually," said a voice. Mother and son turned their heads to see Draco standing in a corner.

"You're dating McGonagall's daughter? McGonagall _has_ a daughter?" he asked in disbelief. Scorpius nodded.

"I'd so much rather it was Rose," Draco sighed.

"Dad!" cried Scorpius.

"What?" asked Draco. "I'd have won over five hundred Galleons from her family."

"Didn't you say you'd lose _eight_ hundred if you lost, Mum?" asked Scorpius.

"I might have been a bit, _reckless_, with my gambling?" mumbled Astoria.

"Reckless?" laughed Draco. "Tori, if I hadn't dragged you out of there, you would have taken the money out of Scorpius' piggy bank!"

"Dad!" blushed Scorpius. "_I. Don't. Have. A. Piggy. Bank!_"

"Yes you do," Draco answered, oblivious to his son's embarrassment. "Remember that shiny, bejewelled pink one Grandmum gave you? The one that spelled "Scorpius" in emeralds and diamonds?"

"Dad!" Scorpius abruptly tried to change the subject. "Exactly when did all this gambling take place?"

"Christmastime," answered Astoria.

"But I was with you all Christmas," said Scorpius, puzzled.

"Not this Christmas," said Draco. "Four years ago."

"But Rosie and I were in only our first year?" gaped Scorpius. "We were _eleven_! How could you bet on eleve-"

"Scorp?" came a voice from Scorpius' side of the fireplace. It was Al. "Scorp, Mum says breakfast is ready!"

"I've got to go," he muttered, beginning to tug his head from the fire. "Bye, Mum! Bye, Dad!" Draco and Astoria waved to him, as his head vanished completely from the fireplace of Malfoy Manor.

Back in the Potters' house, Scorpius stood up, brushing himself down. He looked at Al, who was staring at him curiously.

"What was all that about bets and piggy banks?" he asked.

"Never mind," Scorpius mumbled. He checked his watch. "Al! It's still only five thirty. Nobody's awake!"

"Well, I woke up, and I got bored," said Al casually. "Besides, you were taking a really long time down there. I was worried you'd fallen asleep!"

"It wasn't that long," Scorpius mumbled. "Anyway, do you reckon we should go back to sleep, or just wait until your Mum or Dad or someone wake up?"

"I think I heard Lily wake up on my way down," said Al. "If she is awake, she should come down to bother us until the others wake up." So the two friends stayed awake.

Lily did end up coming down after ten minutes, and several hours later, the other three awoke. They had breakfast, and then James, Al, Scorpius, and Lily began the never ending homework their professors had set them over the holidays. Scorpius made a mental note to ask Joanne if McGonagall could go a bit easy on them next time.

***

Meanwhile, back at Ron and Hermione's house…

***

**A/N – Another chapter, over! This chapter was meant to be the Hogsmeade date, but it just turned into something else altogether as I wrote it. It also got way too long (nine and three quarters (just like the train station!) pages on Microsoft Word). So, the next chapter will be the date, the chapter after will be the ball, and the chapter after **_**that**_** will be a special surprise. I've also got loads of surprises in the next few chapters! Wondering what's up my sleeve? You're going to But don't worry, even though my course is starting, I've got the next four chapters planned out completely. So if I do get any time during the course, I may be able to type up a new chapter! Hurrah!**

_The names of the Harris' pets' names have already been explained, but Caesius, Scorpius' owl, means "greyish" in Latin._

Questions For This Chapter:

1) How do you think the date will go?

2) Who do you think made bets? And what did they make them on?

3) Favorite line? Least favorite?

4) Rating? (1-10)

Thanks for reading! Don't forget to drop in a review on your way out! I hope you had a great time reading _Caretakers_!


	9. Of Mating And Dating

**Disclaimer – My name is Drishti Choudhury. Nowhere in my name are the words Joanne, or Rowling…**

**A/N – Okay, I've changed my mind about the ages of all the kids. I changed all the other chapters to go along with this one as well. Now Scorpius and Jo have already turned fifteen (Scorpius in January, Jo in March), Rose and Al will turn fifteen in a few chapters, Hugo and Lily are twelve, Adonis is eleven, Aurora is eight, and Sophia is still four. And this isn't important at all (for now), but James' birthday is October 31****st****, because that's the day James and Lily died, and I figured it would be kind of cool; like he was reincarnated or something. I'm also considering using Snape's birthday (January 9****th****) for Lily, just because that would also be awesome. Aside from that, none of the other kids' ages really need to be mentioned. If you want to see the Harris kids' birthdays, visit my profile page (and you might as well read my stories while you're there. Yeah, I know, shameless advertising…) Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy (**_**love!) **_**this chapter; since you had to wait ages for this to come, I made it extra long. And now, as this A/N is much too massive for you to want to read it any longer, I say, that's about it, I guess... Enjoyyy!!!**

*******

_Previously On __Caretakers__:_

_Meanwhile, back at Ron and Hermione's house…_

***

Chapter Nine: Of Mating And Dating

"Ugh, no! I can't wear that!"

"Why not?" asked Rose, looking at the pretty green sundress she was holding up.

"_Because!_ I don't have shoes to wear with it!" said Joanne impatiently. At the moment, Rose was finding Joanne much like a Gryffindor in her year, Lara Thomas. According to her parents, Lara was just the way her mother, Lavender, had been at school, always worrying about the way she looked, gossiping about everything she heard. Strangely enough, Ron's ears would grow tomato red at the mention of either Lara or Lavender, just as Hermione's would at the mention of a Cormac McLaggen, whose son, a Gryffindor named Tiberius, was a year above Hugo and Lily.

"Ooh! What about this one?"

"Jo, that's a ball gown," sighed Rose. Jo was holding up a pretty, flowing periwinkle dress, one that had belonged to Hermione during her school years. "Scorp is taking you to _Hogsmeade_."

"I mean, I can wear it to the ball, right?" asked Jo eagerly. "And I have _just_ the right shoes to go with it!"

Rose wondered where this side of Jo had come from. McGonagall was certainly not the type of person to encourage this, and she had seemed quite _normal_ at first meeting.

"Rose!" called a voice from Ron's study. "Ro-ose! Rosie!" Rose, hearing her name, ran from the room, eager for a reason to escape Joanne's never-ending suggestions.

She entered the room to see Scorpius' head floating in the fireplace her dad used for Flooing.

"Scorp! What are you doing here?" asked Rose, going over to the fire. "If you had to tell me something, couldn't you have just sent an owl?"

"Caesius was tired," said Scorpius casually, stepping out of the fireplace, brushing leftover ash from his body. He knew this was a lie. He just wanted to see his best friend's face again, to hear her voice… and to maybe share a snog with Joanne?

"Er, can you call Jo in? I have some stuff to tell her," he said. "About the ball," he added as Rose gave him a funny look. She left the room to get Joanne, returning seconds later with Jo.

"You two enjoy your _conversation_," she snickered. Her face turned serious all of a sudden. "If I come back here and catch you two snogging, I swear, I will-"

"You won't," interrupted Scorpius firmly. _"Catch us,"_ he added mentally. "You want to go now?"

"Remember what I said about the snogging you two," she warned, exiting the room.

"Don't care!" he called after her. "I've been receiving death threats from your dad for the last four years; I doubt yours are much worse!" Joanne giggled.

"So, what was it you wanted to tell me?" she asked.

"Oh yeah," he said, remembering what he had learnt that morning from his mum. "The ball kinda happens to...be...a masquerade?" he finished awkwardly.

"Oh well," she said cheerfully. Scorpius stared at her. From his past experience with the opposite sex, she was meant to have started bawling by now, accusing him of purposely making having chosen a masquerade.

"And you're okay with that?" he asked nervously.

"It wouldn't have been my first choice, but sure," she responded. "Why not? I'm glad you told me today, now I can find a mask in Hogsmeade to wear to it!" She bent over and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "Thanks, Scorpy!"

The only conscious thought that crossed his mind before reaching down and kissing her was, _"Scorpy? What in the name of bloody Merlin?"_ But all else left his head as their lips met. Normally, in all the clichéd Muggle movies, this was the part where fireworks were supposed to go off; violins were meant to be playing in the background. But Scorpius didn't mind the absence of the fireworks and violins as they entered a heated snog.

"Merlin's bloody pants!" cried Rose from behind them. "What happened to no snogging? What happened to _no bloody snogging_? I leave for _thirty bloody seconds_ and you two decide to bloody eat each other's bloody faces off?! What the bloody hell?"

"Who are you, my mum?" demanded Scorpius angrily, glaring at his best friend.

"Wha- No, I'm not, but I-" stuttered Rose.

"Then maybe, you should just stay the hell out of my bloody business!" he shouted. "_Maybe_, you can get your bloody nose out of other people's bloody lives!"

"Fine then!" she cried back. "I'll stop bloody _caring_, then!"

"What's there to care about?"

"Hey guys! What's going on?"

"_Get out, Hugo!_"

"Merlin's beard, I'll leave if I'm so unwanted, then!"

"You didn't answer the bloody question, Weasley! Why d'you care?"

"Well, if we're on last-name basis, then _maybe _it's because I'm your best bloody friend, _Malfoy_! Or I _was_," Rose added bitterly. She stormed out of the room… only to bump into Ron.

"What's the matter, Rosie?" he asked concernedly.

"_Move_, Dad! I'm trying to make a dramatic exit!" she grunted, trying to get past her father.

"What happened up here? I heard a load of shouting," he said, entering the study where Joanne was looking sheepish and Scorpius looked incredibly annoyed.

"How did you get into my house, Malfoy?" Ron asked, narrowing his eyes.

"I Flooed, Mr. Weasley," Scorpius answered. "I'll just be leaving, then."

"Hold on a second," said Ron. "I want to know what the bloody hell just happened, and why Rose looks like she's about to cry."

"Nothing bloody _happened_, Dad! Just bloody _leave it_!" cried Rose, walking past him into her room. She slammed the door shut with a loud bang.

"Language, Rose!" came Hermione's voice from the stairs. "What happened up here?"

"Maybe I should go?" asked Scorpius awkwardly.

"You aren't going anywhere until you tell me what exactly happened up here, Malfoy," said Ron fiercely. "My daughter just walked past with _tears _in her bloody eyes! I want to know what bloody happened!"

"Language, Ron!" commanded Hermione. "But please, Scorpius, tell us what happened."

"I'm just going to go send a letter to Mum," said Jo, edging away from Ron, Hermione, Scorpius, and a very curious Hugo.

"It's nothing," Scorpius mumbled. "Rose and I just had a little disagreement."

"Disagreement?" asked Hugo. "I haven't heard that much yelling since you and Al set her hair on fire last year!"

"Hugo, go to your room!" said Hermione, ushering Hugo away. She turned to Scorpius. "Are you sure that's what happened? I haven't seen Rose cry for ages."

"Rose just got us at a bad moment," said Scorpius.

"Us?" asked Ron. "Us? Who is this 'us'? Did you Floo somebody _else_ over with you?"

"No, by us I mean me and Jo," said Scorpius hurriedly. "I mean Joanne, sorry."

"So my daughter is crying because she saw you and Joanne in my study together?" asked Ron in disbelief. "Bloody hell! Is she jealous of you guys?! Oh god! Oh bloody god! You two are going to fall in bloody love, and bloody elope, and bloody move to bloody Paris! Oh bloody Merlin!"

"Ron, stop it! They aren't going to elope and move to France," said Hermione consolingly. "But if they did, I'd rather they move to Italy, rather than France. I hear there's a thing going on between witches and wizards in France right now. Some kind of "equality between sexes" battle. I completely agree with the witches, of course! They should certainly fight for their-"

"Hermione!" said Ron loudly. "We don't really need to hear about all this right now. I need to yell at Malfoy for making my Rosie cry."

"Ron, you can't yell at Scorpius," said Hermione firmly. "This is for Rose, Scorpius, and Joanne to sort out for themselves. It's none of our business, anyway." This made Scorpius remember all the horrid things he had said to Rose earlier.

"Oh crap! What did I do? I have to go apologise to Rose!" he said, darting into Rose's room.

"Bloody teenagers are bloody crazy," muttered Ron.

"Ron, you were a teenager, too!" said Hermione. "Remember all the crap we went through?"

"Language, Hermione," chided Ron half-heartedly, reminiscing about his adventure-filled teenage years. "Hey, remember that time when a chandelier fell on your head, and your eyelids started spazzing, and Malfoy was playing the violin for us?"

"My eyelids weren't _bloody spazzing!_"

***

"Rose? Rosie?" asked Scorpius timidly. "Can I come in? Please?"

"Don't you have a girlfriend to snog?" came a muffled voice from inside. Scorpius cringed. It sounded like she had been crying.

"I want to apologise," he replied.

"People don't apologise to people they don't like," she responded stubbornly.

"I do like you, Rosie," he said, trying to push open the door. It seemed that Rose had either used the unbreakable lock her Uncle George had given her for her last birthday, or had pushed her dresser in front of the door. Knowing Rose, she had done both. "I didn't mean any of that stuff."

"Like hell you didn't!" she said from inside the room.

"Rose! C'mon, you know I wouldn't really _mean_ any of those things! I was just annoyed," he pleaded, pushing against the door.

"Well, now _I'm_ annoyed, so sod the hell off," she shouted, still inside the room. "I mean it, Malfoy."

"Rose? C'mon! You must know I didn't mean any of that. D'you want me to call Jo, so that you can have some girl talk, or something?" The door burst open with a bang. Rose was standing there, her arms crossed, and her puffy, red eyes narrowed.

"So, now suddenly I need 'girl talk' to make me feel better?" she demanded. "I'm one of those shallow, self-centered, air-headed idiots who needs to cry on the shoulder of somebody else who probably doesn't even _care_? I'm not like those girls you date, Scorpius," she said, poking him in the chest with every word she said.

"I knew that," he said quickly. "Shall I call Al, then? You can have some 'guy talk'?"

"So now I'm not a girl anymore?" she asked.

"What the hell, Rosie?" Scorpius cried, throwing his hands up in the air. "Are you _trying_ to prove me wrong with everything I say? Are you _trying_ to irritate me? Because it's bloody working! I'm trying to apologise to you, and you won't let me say a bloody thing without yelling at me first! Sometimes, you need to _listen_ to what the other person is saying. And I know it's a hard concept for Little Miss Perfect to understand, but sometimes, _you are the one who's wrong_! Have you and your oversized brain ever considered that?!"

"Well then, _Malfoy_. Maybe me and my _oversized brain_ don't want to forgive you? Have _you_ and your _pea-sized brain_ ever considered _that_?" Rose shot back, her voice devoid of emotion.

"Personally, I think you two are both acting like idiots," Hugo offered, sticking his head out from his room.

"_Get out, Hugo!_" cried Rose and Scorpius.

"Just trying to help," answered Hugo sulkily, retreating to the safety of his room.

"Hugo's right, isn't he?" asked Scorpius. "We are both acting like idiots."

"I hate it when Hugo's bloody right," mumbled Rose, crossing her arms.

"You guys stopped fighting and actually listened to me?" came Hugo's voice from inside his room.

"_Shut up, Hugo!"_

"Scorp?" asked Rose.

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry."

"Me too."

"Have me made up now?"

"Yeah."

"Good. Now shut up and hug me."

"Aww..."

"_Hugo!"_

"Er, Rosie?" asked Scorpius, breaking away from Rose. "Will you, er, still come? Y'know, with me on the, er, date?"

"Snogging limit is five minutes, ten minutes tops," said Rose warningly.

"I have made a mental note of it," said Scorpius.

"Good," said Rose.

"Have you guys kissed and made out yet?"

"_Hugo, I swear to Merlin if you make one more comment I will personally castrate you with the sharpest knife I can find."_

"I'll just be leaving, then."

***

"Oh bloody hell. Oh bloody hell. Oh _bloody hell!_"

"Jo, calm down," said Rose soothingly. "It's just a date. No worries."

"I'm going on a date with Scorpius _bloody_ Malfoy! What do you mean _no worries?_" Jo cried.

"Are you seriously McGonagall's daughter?" asked Rose in disbelief.

"Wha- Yeah, I am. Didn't we go through this the first day we arrived?" asked Jo, the panic disappearing from her voice.

"There's the Jo I met two days ago! I was getting worried she might've died or something," said Rose cheerfully.

"But what about the _date_?"Jo wailed. "My hair looks a mess, and my clothes are hideous!"

"Hey!" said Rose, looking offended. "Those are my jeans you're wearing!" Rose had selected a simple white blouse and dark blue jeans. It had only taken her about thirty seconds to choose an outfit, while Jo's clothing selection had been going on since yesterday. She had finally ended up choosing a pretty red shirt with gold lining around the sleeves, and had borrowed a pair of jeans from Rose to wear as well.

"Jo, you look bloody _fine_! Will you stop panicking? Scorp won't care, anyway. As long as you're female, and know how to snog, he doesn't give a damn how you look," said Rose simply. She looked at the watch on her wrist and sighed.

"He should have been here about ages ago. Where is he?" she mumbled. The pair of them had been waiting by the front door for fifteen minutes already, and Scorpius still hadn't shown up.

"He will show up, right?" asked Joanne fearfully. "He isn't going to stand me up, is he? Oh, Merlin! He's standing me up!"

"Oi! Rosie!" called Ron from upstairs.

"Yes, Daddy?" Rose asked, walking to the foot of the stairs where she could see him standing, looking very annoyed.

"Malfoy's flying outside the window of your room. He says he's here to pick you and Joanne up," Ron grumbled, obviously displeased.

"Please, call me Jo, Mr. Weasley," said Jo.

"C'mon, let's go," said Rose, pulling Jo up the stairs. "We don't want Scorp to be seen by any Muggles." The two hurried up the stairs, past a disgruntled Ron, and to the window of Rose's room.

"Merlin, Scorpius!" cried Rose. "You know Muggles could've seen you flying? What were you thinking?"

"I was thinking that I wanted to make an impressive entrance," said Scorpius proudly.

"Didn't you do this already for Elizabeth Mayer, Kim Powers, and Jessica Warrington?" asked Rose. "Y'know, the two Hufflepuffs and the Slytherin you dated last year? I believe you actually _serenaded_ one Gryffindor girl. What was her name?"

"Rose, _shut up_," hissed Scorpius, gesturing "indiscreetly" towards Jo.

"Its fine, Scorpius," she laughed. "I don't mind."

"So, are you guys coming or what?" asked Scorpius, patting the back of his broom. "We have at least _get there_ before sundown."

"Will we fit?" asked Rose doubtfully. "You have a racing broom, and I don't think it'll enjoy having three of us on it. Especially with all the weight you've gained over the summer, Scorp."

"Is this coming from Miss I-_inhale_-ten-helpings-at-every-meal Weasley?" asked Scorpius.

"Says Mr. I-need-to-eat-everything-I-see Malfoy," responded Rose.

"What happened to getting there before sundown?" asked Jo impatiently, waving a hand between the two.

"I think I'll just go on my broom," said Rose. "I think you and Jo can go together, though. If I catch you two snogging again, I swear, I will knock you off your broom, Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy," she added warningly.

"Like you could," he snorted.

"Watch me," she replied, grabbing her broom from over by her school trunk. Scorpius stretched his hand out towards Jo so that she could jump onto his broom.

"Ready?" asked Rose, who having already mounted her broom, was flying by Scorpius' side. "Bet I can beat you there."

"No fair!" complained Scorpius. "I have an extra person with me. It's one against two!"

"Ten second head start?" asked Rose wearily.

"You're on," said Scorpius, grinning wickedly.

"On your marks, get set," started Rose.

"_Go_!" cried Jo. The two sped off, Rose following exactly ten seconds later. With Rose's Weasley genes kicking in, she reached Scorpius' broom within minutes.

"Tortoise and the hare, Scor," she said vaguely, looking straight ahead.

"Are you quoting Aesop's fables?" asked Jo, surprised. "Those were written by a Muggle."

"Why're you calling me Scor?" asked Scorpius, glancing her way. "You've called me Scorp for years."

"Exactly," responded Rose. "I think it's time for a change. And anyway, I used to call you Scor up until our third year. Don't you think Scor sounds better, more dignified?"

"Er, okay?"

"Wonderful," said Rose. "Well, this was a grand talk we had together, but I must be going now." And she sped off, the air from her broom blowing into Jo and Scorpius' face.

"That _was_ a quote from Aesop's fables, by the way!" Rose called, already meters away.

"Blast-Ended Skank," Scorpius muttered.

"I heard that!" Rose screeched, a neon green Extendable ear in her hands, just barely visible through the clouds.

Scorpius gripped his broom tightly, willing it to go faster. The broom, a Thundercloud 5000, one of the latest in the market, obeyed, shooting forward like a bullet.

"Merlin, it felt like my face was peeling off," commented Jo shakily, trying to regain her breath after the broom finally returned to its normal speed.

"Maybe, but it was bloody fun!"

'_Boys...' _thought Jo amusedly, eyeing Scorpius' wide grin as the broom shot off once again.

A quarter of an hour later, they arrived in the village of Hogsmeade, almost simultaneously with Rose's broom.

"I got here first!"

"My broom touched the ground first!"

"_My _feet touched the ground before _your_ broom!"

"Your _enormous ego_ probably hit ground before either of our brooms did!"

"My ego isn't half as large as your _arse_!"

"Cut it out, you two!" cried Jo, trying her hardest to hold herself back from Stunning the both of them. "Scorpius, apologise for saying Rose had a large arse. Rose, apologise for saying Scorpius has a large ego," she commanded.

"See," crowed Rose triumphantly. "She said apologise for saying I _had_ a large arse. I have to apologise for saying you _have_ a large ego! Present tense! She agrees with me!"

"You just clarified that you used to have a big arse," said Scorpius.

"Oi! Shut up, both of you!" groaned Jo. Nodding their heads, Rose and Scorpius abruptly stopped arguing, and faced each other.

"Scorpius, I'm sorry for saying you had a large ego," said Rose.

"Rosie, I'm sorry for saying you had a large arse," said Scorpius. Simultaneously, almost robotically, they bent over and gave each other a warm hug, one that lasted for quite a while. The silence was broken by Jo saying, "Aww," and pretending wipe away a tear. Rose and Scorpius broke away quickly, blushing furiously.

"You and Hugo are much too similar for my liking," said Rose grumpily.

"Ugh, I hope dating you won't be like going out with Hugo," said Scorpius with horror.

"Rosie!" cried a voice from a little down the path the three were standing.

"Oh crap. I know that voice," whispered Rose groaning. She turned around, faking a wide smile and said cheerfully, "Hello, Uncle George! What are you doing in Hogsmeade?"

"I wanted to see if we could open up a chain of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes here in Hogsmeade. It'd be like Zonko's for all the Hogwarts students to visit. We thought it would bring in some more business. I'm Apparating home now. So, why are _you_ three here?" asked George.

"Scor and Jo are on a date," explained Rose.

"So you are here, why?"

"It's a type of tradition we have," said Rose. "I go with Scor on all his first dates."

"And does Mal-_Scorpius_ here go on all _your_ first dates?" asked George firmly, fixing Scorpius with a very Ron-ish look. "Not that you should have had any, though," he added hastily.

"No, actually, he doesn't. I should have a word with him about that," said Rose, making a mental note to confront Scorpius about that later. She grabbed Scorpius' arm and dragged him away, pretending to talk to him about the first date thing. Jo got the feeling she was really scolding him about that. She suddenly realised she was alone with Rose's Uncle George. The air felt hot and stuffy as Jo tugged at her collar nervously. There was an awkward silence hanging over them and she felt as if she had to do something to break it.

"So, you own Weasley's Wizard Wheezes?" asked Jo, cringing afterward as she realised how stupid it sounded. He was George bloody _Weasley_! Of course he owned _Weasley's_ Wizard Wheezes!

"Er, yeah," said George awkwardly. "So, you and Malf-Scorpius are dating?"

"Yeah, we are," replied Jo equally awkwardly.

"So, what's your name again?" asked George. "I didn't catch it at the Weasley reunion. Leanne?"

"Joanne," she corrected. "You can call me Jo if you like; everybody else does."

"All right then, Jo," said George. "I'm not going to beat around the bush here. I'm sure you've either figured out or had somebody tell you about the two lovebirds over there?" he asked, gesturing to Rose and Scorpius, who were arguing loudly. Jo nodded sadly.

"Yeah, Hugo told me. I figured it out, too," she responded.

"Well, I know it's kind of tough knowing that, but it's going to take ages for that to happen," said George.

"Sometimes, it's not about how much time you have with a person. Sometimes, it's about what you _do_ with that person," quoted Jo, remembering what Hugo has said to her after the Quidditch match.

"Did Hugo tell you that?" asked George knowingly. Jo nodded. "That son of a banshee! That's what I said after Fred died! He stole my line!" George cried. Joanne suppressed a giggle.

"I think they're really cute together, actually," said Jo. "And even though I'm dating Scorpius, I realised, I only like him as a friend. So I will do everything in my power to get those two together, even if it means tying them together. He was a good snog, though."

"Spoken like a true Weasley," said George proudly. "Er, wait. Spoken like a true McGonagall? Harris? Ah, sod it. You've spoken like a true Gryffindor."

"Uncle George, you didn't interrogate her, did you? You don't have to be a surrogate parent to everybody I know!" Jo turned to see Rose walking back, dragging Scorpius over by his ear.

"It's fine, he didn't interrogate me. He, er, told me about some new products for Weasley's Wizard Wheezes," invented Jo wildly.

"If Dad put you up to this, I will find out," said Rose suspiciously. "Don't you forget that! And I'm still mad at you for dinner at the Weasley reunion. You just egged them on with that song."

"Aw, Rosie!" George complained. "But you know I'm your favourite uncle."

"Uncle Harry is, actually," responded Rose. "Up until I was seven, you were my favourite uncle. Uncle Percy was my favourite for a year or two. Then, after I went to Hogwarts I just permanently switched to Uncle Harry."

"_Percy_ was your favourite uncle?" asked George in mock-horror. "Did he bribe you?"

"I'll be informing Uncle Percy about that," grinned Rose.

"Stupid Weasley genes kicking in," muttered George. "Well, have fun on your date, to the couple and their tag-along."

"Oh, shut it," mumbled Rose, glaring at George, who smirked.

"Well, I have a business to run," said George. "Have fun!" And he pulled out his wand, and Disapparated with a 'pop'.

"Shall we go into the Three Broomsticks for a Butterbeer?" asked Scorpius.

"Yeah, a Butterbeer sounds perfect," said Jo. The three of them trooped off toward the Three Broomsticks, their footsteps echoing off the empty street.

The entered the small pub; the wooden door jingling as they opened it.

"Hey Rosie!" said Hannah cheerfully. She had taken over the pub after Madam Rosmerta had finally quit from age. As young as Rosmerta looked, she was getting on in years, and decided to retire a little earlier than planned. "Oh, you brought Scorpius, too. Who's your other friend?"

"This is Jo," said Rose, pulling her to the front. "Can we have three Butterbeers, please?"

"Sure thing," said Hannah, pulling out three glass bottles from behind the counter. "Guess what, Rose?"

"What?"

"Neville finally proposed to me!" squealed Hannah, lifting up her hand to show a sparkling diamond ring.

"Really? I'm so happy for you Auntie Hannah! Now you'll really be Auntie Hannah! Merlin, we were beginning to think we'd all be married with kids before you two got married!" said Rose excitedly.

"_Girly-girl_," coughed Scorpius, earning a jab in the ribs from Rose.

"Shut it, you," she hissed. "How did he propose?"

"It was quite funny, really," said Hannah, giggling. "He took me out to a restaurant. The he gave the ring to the waiter and asked him to put it in my dessert under the pretence of going to the loo."

"What's so funny about that?" asked Rose.

"The waiter accidently gave Neville the slice of cake with the ring in it," said Hannah. "He started choking, and when he finally got the ring out of his throat, he got on his knees and proposed with the saliva-covered ring."

"Are you serious?" asked Rose, laughing.

"Completely," giggled Hannah.

"Does Rose know _everybody_ in the Wizarding world?" whispered Jo.

"Nah. She's related to about two thirds of them, and all the rest are family friends," answered Scorpius.

"I heard that," said Rose, this time giving him a slap on the head. "You realise you and I are fourth cousins or something, right?"

"Ow!" he complained, rubbing his head. "Why's it always me getting hit?"

"Well, if you stopped talking about me all the time, you wouldn't get hit all the time," said Rose simply. "Now, shut up and let me talk."

"Yes, Your Highness," muttered Scorpius.

"I heard that, too," said Rose, whacking him yet again.

"Rose, stop hitting the poor boy," said Hannah, suppressing a smile. "He'll be covered in bruises soon."

"That's the point, Aunt Hannah," said Rose, viciously hitting every part of Scorpius that wasn't shielded by the table he had hid under.

"Rose, if you beat him to a pulp now, how will you be able to do it later if he _actually _insults you?" said Jo logically.

"I guess you have a point," mused Rose. She held out a hand to Scorpius, who was still in hiding. "C'mon, Scor." He took her hand gratefully, but rather than standing up, he pulled her down beside him. He stood up quickly, but when Rose tried to follow, she found herself stuck to the table by-

"A piece of _gum_! A piece of Drooble's Best _bloody_ Blowing Gum! Bloody drunks leaving their bloody gum on the _bloody_ tables!"

"Rose, d'you want to calm down?" asked Scorpius timidly.

"No, I don't want to bloody _calm down_! It's your bloody fault my head is stuck to a bloody table, and I will get you, even if it means dragging the whole bloody table with me!" cried Rose.

"Shall I run?" asked Scorpius.

"Are you kidding me?" asked Hannah. "Hell, yeah! Get going, boy!" Scorpius scarpered, as Rose stood up, the table still stuck to her head.

"Hey, Rose?" asked Hannah. "Before you chase after him, would you like me to, er, cut you loose from the table?" Rose nodded furiously, and Hannah pulled out her wand, muttering "_Diffindo_." The table (and the gum) departed from Rose's fiery mane of curls, and she ran out the door with a fierce battle cry. A loud wail minutes later told them that Rose had found Scorpius, and was indeed inflicting her fury upon him.

"They don't ever leave each other alone, do they?" asked Jo amusedly.

"Not at all. I'm guessing at least one member of the family has told you about what they're finally going to realise in a bit, right?" asked Hannah.

"Hugo and Rose's Uncle George," said Jo. "And I figured it out myself."

"Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy! You and your insufferably large ego had better get back here right now! Don't you run from me! _Scorpius!!!_"

"Shall I make sure Rose doesn't go too far and cut his head off or something?" asked Jo.

"Nah," said Hannah casually. "We'll wait it out. Rose will get tired eventually."

***

An hour later, Rose re-entered the Three Broomsticks, Scorpius crawling after her, bruised and battered. Joanne quickly slid off her stool, bending over to help her boyfriend up.

"I think Mr. Malfoy here has learned his lesson," said Rose, blowing a strand of hair away from her face. Her hair was even wilder and frizzier than usual and her hands and face were covered in smudges of dirt.

"Shall we just go home?" asked Scorpius weakly.

"I think we've had enough excitement for one day," said Jo, brushing dirt off Scorpius' arms.

"We might as well," said Rose. "When I was out there, I saw that Honeydukes and Zonko's are closed. They're pretty much all that's good to visit, aside from the Three Broomsticks and the Hog's Head."

"Bye," said Scorpius, snatching his unfinished Butterbeer of the counter. Jo and Rose did the same.

"Oh! We forgot to pay," said Rose suddenly, digging in her pockets. "Scor, pay up."

"Why do I have to pay?" moaned Scorpius. "You always pay for your stuff."

"I also always pay for yours and Al's things," Rose reminded him. "_I_ sponsor all your Zonko's products, your Honeydukes sweets, and your Butterbeers. I'm actually rather surprised you haven't asked me to buy your schoolbooks each year! I think it's about time you started paying me back. You can begin with the Butterbeers."

"It's fine, Rosie. These are on the house," laughed Hannah.

"Really? Thanks, Aunt Hannah," said Rose gratefully. "Have you guys decided on a wedding date yet? Because I'm getting you an extra-good wedding present."

"We're thinking July next year," said Hannah. "And don't go and get us anything fancy. It's nothing, really. They're just a few Butterbeers. Promise you won't go overboard."

"That's a promise I can't make, Aunt Hannah," said Rose solemnly. "Tell me the exact date once you figure it out so that I can help with the wedding plans. You know about Teddy and Victoire's wedding this August, right?"

"Yeah, Neville and I are invited. I'll be seeing you there, of course?"

"Of course," replied Rose. "Vic somehow managed to convince Aunt Fleur to let her use all of the girl cousins as her bridesmaids. Except Dom; Dom is her maid of honour."

"So, you, Lily, Roxanne, Molly, and Lucy will all be her bridesmaids?" asked Hannah.

"And Adelaide and Soleil," reminded Rose. "Victoire's Aunt Gabrielle's daughters."

"Seven bridesmaids," said Hannah, "I can't believe Fleur actually allowed that."

"Me neither," admitted Rose. "Anyway, we have to go now," she said, pointing to Scorpius, who was halfway out the door. "Thanks for the Butterbeers!"

"It was no problem, Rosie," said Hannah, waving to them as they left.

"Oh crap!" cried Rose. "Our brooms! They're still in that little alley we landed in!"

"Bloody hell! Dad's going to _kill_ me if that gets stolen! Let's go!" Scorpius grabbed Jo and Rose's hands, dragging them out of the small pub faster than Severus Snape confronted with shampoo.

They ran as fast as their legs could carry them, Scorpius stopping to breathe only after seeing the gleaming brooms still propped up against the stone wall they had left them against.

"Thank… Merlin," gasped Rose.

"My dad would really have cursed me if I lost that broom," panted Scorpius. "It cost-"

"Five hundred Galleons," finished Rose, her voice bored and weary.

"Have I told you this before?" asked Scorpius, confused.

"You might have mentioned it once, twice… _every single day since you got it_," answered Rose.

"Have I really been saying that since January?" asked Scorpius. "Well, in my defense, it was the best birthday present I've ever gotten."

"Scor, Al and I made you a bowl that filled with a different sweet every other day! I even charmed it so that it would never run out!" said Rose indignantly. "That took me two and a half months to make!"

"What? You gave me a _bowl_ for my birthday?" asked Scorpius.

"Yes!" cried Rose, throwing her hands up in the air. "Let's go, Dad's probably waiting at home so that he can hex you for keeping us out late."

"Late?" asked Scorpius, looking at his watch. "It's only… half past seven! How long have we been out?!"

"If you hadn't been making idiotic comments the whole time, you'd have noticed," replied Rose scathingly.

"If you two are _done_?" asked Jo impatiently, already trying to mount Scorpius' broom. The two stopped arguing immediately, going over to their brooms.

"Er, Scor? You might be a little too…_worn down_ to steer a broom with two people, don't you think?" asked Rose.

"I wonder whose fault that might be?" he groaned. "Jo, d'you want to ride with Rose instead?"

"Nah," said Jo, grinning wickedly. "I think you should sit with Rose and let her steer. I can manage on my own. I'm not that bad of a flyer."

"You haven't been speaking with Hugo recently?" asked Rose warily, her eyes narrowed.

"Of course not," lied Jo innocently. "What would I be talking to Hugo about?"

"I've got my eye on you," said Rose, extremely suspicious. "Scor, what _are_ you doing?"

"Trying to climb on," grunted Scorpius. "I think my leg may be broken, all thanks to you."

"Does little Scorpy need help getting on the big boy broom?" asked Rose mockingly as Scorpius glared.

"Shut up and just help me get on the bloody broom," he groaned. Rose grinned, but laced her fingers together, forming a small step for Scorpius to stand on as he lifted his "broken" leg over the broom. He stepped on her hands, his shoes omitting a small squelch from the mud he purposely stepped in before mounting the broom. Rose scowled, but allowed him to sit on the broom before removing her now muddy hand with a grimace.

"You are a _git_, Scorpius Mal- _oomph!_"

Scorpius had suddenly toppled from the broom, landing heavily on top of Rose, his face just inches away from hers.

"Merlin, Scor! How much do you bloody _weigh_?" groaned Rose. "Would you get off me?!"

"I would if I could, Rosie," said Scorpius, shifting a bit. "But I'm afraid I can't."

"You _can't_? What in the name of bloody Merlin do you mean you can't?" cried Rose.

"Wow, your chest heaves a lot when you scream," said Scorpius.

"..."

"..."

"Rosie? Jo? Why aren't you guys talking?"

"My chest heaves a lot when I scream?"

"Yeah."

"_THEN STOP MAKING ME SCREAM!_"

"Scorpius, if you lift one of your arms up I can try pulling you," offered Jo, bending down to reach him. He lifted an arm lazily, barely trying to get up as Jo pulled with all her might.

"Scor, you feel heavier every time Jo pulls," complained Rose, as Jo tugged once more.

"I give up. This is too awkward," said Scorpius, standing up effortlessly.

"You weren't stuck to me?" asked Rose.

"Nah. I just wanted to make you uncomfortable," said Scorpius casually.

"You could have just put a spider in my bed!" cried Rose. "You didn't have to fall on me!"

"Actually, I fell on you by accident. I _stayed_ on you on purpose," said Scorpius, brushing dirt off his body. "I felt a sort of push behind me, and then I fell."

"Jo?" asked Rose suspiciously. "_You_ were standing behind Scor when he fell, weren't you?"

"We should really get going now," said Jo hurriedly, mounting Rose's broom and speeding away.

"Rose?"

"Hmm?"

"Your chest is heaving again."

***

Fifteen minutes later, all three were safely back at Rose's house, thought much too late for Ron's liking. Rose and Jo were standing by the window, waving goodbye to Scorpius.

"Bye, Jo. Bye, Rowena," said Scorpius, using the nickname he had used on Rose in their first year.

"Bye, Salazar," responded Rose, remembering how they had stopped using those names after discovering that Rowena and Salazar fell in love. She wondered why he would bring it up now.

"Bye, Scorpius," said Jo, giving a small smile as she saw the other two together, looking so happy.

"Why're you smiling?" asked Rose, narrowing her eyes.

"Nothing. I just, er, remembered a joke your dad told me last night," lied Jo, hastily rearranging her face.

"Well, then," said Scorpius awkwardly. "I'll be off. 'Night, Jo. Night' Ro." His broom made a small "_whoosh"_ as it sped off into the night.

"Oh, and Jo? You looked really pretty tonight," he called, metres away. Jo's face morphed into a wide smile, blushing slightly at the compliment.

"I'm going to go see if Dad and Hugo managed to leave us some food," said Rose, rubbing her stomach. "You coming?"

"Nah. I'm just going to sleep," replied Jo. "I've had enough for today."

"Oh, okay. G'night, Jo."

"Goodnight Rose."

***

**Ta-daa! I'm incredibly sorry that this chapter took so long, and I realise how crappy he ending was, but at least it was long, right? Twelve pages on Microsoft Word, and over 7000 words. Awesomeness, no? I've also been spending way too much time on Twitter (where I'm Drishti3693 if you want to follow me), as well as working on my online course. **

**And if you want to read more about the whole "spazzing, Malfoy playing violin, chandelier falling on Hermione's head" thing that Ron and Hermione were talking about, you can visit my profile, and read my R/H story, **_**Flutter.**_

**Anywayzzz, I hope this chapter wasn't as suckish as it sounded when I wrote it. I'll be moving on the Chapter Questions now...**

_Questions For This Chapter:_

1) Do you think Jo will manage to get Rose and Scorpius together, or do you think they'll do it themselves?

2) Do you think Jo will end up with another Weasley/Potter member? Who? (I've already planned this, but your input is definitely appreciated)

3) What do you think will happen at the masquerade? (I've already planned this chapter, but suggestions couldn't hurt)

4) Was Hugo awesomely annoying or irritatingly annoying in this chapter?

4) Chapter rating? (you guys know the drill: 1-10)

**That's all for now, folks! Don't forget to leave a review! (**_**If you forget, I shall become like Rosie, and my chest shall heave as I yell at you...)**_** Thanks for reading! =)**


	10. Of Author's Notes & Apologies

Dear **readers**, _reviewers_, and family:

**Thank you** for _putting up_ with all the **delays**.

**I** am _**extremely**_ sorry for **everything**.

I realise that it's _been_ over a _**year**_.

And so I **thank **_**you**_.

For waiting.

For **hoping**.

And for _kindling_ the thoughts that **I** would _return_.

I am **sorry** to say that I _do not_ have an **update** for _you_.

But thank you for _putting up with me_ through **everything** that I've **done**.

I have so many **ideas**.

So many _thoughts_.

But not enough time.

I **know** that I have _made_ you wait.

But for **my sake**, you're _going_ to have to _wait_ a **little** _longer…_

-**Drishti**


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